As tensions escalate over potential military action by the United States, Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has called for peace and pledged “absolute loyalty” to his people at a rally in Caracas.
According to media reports, the rally took place as US President Donald Trump and his national security team discussed Venezuela’s “next steps.”
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Maduro told a crowd of Venezuelans outside the presidential palace in Caracas that they only desired peace “with sovereignty, equality, and freedom” and that they wanted peace instead.
We oppose peace in colonies and between slaves and people! Never, ever, Colonia! Never, ever, “slaves”! he stated.
In what it calls an anti-drug trafficking campaign, the Trump administration has been mounting pressure on Venezuela as a military expansion continues in the Caribbean. According to Caracas, the actions are intended to overthrow Maduro’s administration.
The US has deployed the largest aircraft carrier in the area, which is the largest carrier in the world, and it has designated the Cartel de los Soles, which Maduro leads as a drug trafficking cartel, as a “terrorist” organization.
At least 83 people have been killed by at least 21 strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific since September, according to it.
According to experts, the US’s combined force far exceeds what is required for a drug-trafficking operation, while Caracas asserts that the US is attempting to overthrow Venezuela’s numerous natural resources, including oil.
Maduro claimed on Monday that the US was conducting a “psychological terrorism campaign.”
He claimed that “we have endured 22 weeks of aggression that can only be described as psychological terrorism.” The Venezuelan people have shown their love for their country, he continued, adding, “These 22 weeks have put us to the test.”
Calls from Trump and Maduro
Trump, by contrast, confirmed on Sunday that he had spoken with Maduro on the phone, but he said the conversation had not gone “well or poorly.”
According to a Reuters news release on Monday, Trump reportedly offered Maduro a safe exit from Venezuela during the brief call on November 21 citing four reputable sources.
According to three of the sources, Maduro told Trump he was willing to leave Venezuela if he and his family received full legal amnesty, including the end of a significant case he faces before the International Criminal Court (ICC), Reuters reported.
He also requested that more than 100 Venezuelan government officials be free of sanctions, many of whom the US has accused of alleged human rights violations, drug trafficking, or corruption, according to Reuters.
Trump told Maduro he had a week to travel to the place of his choosing alongside his family members, rejecting the majority of his requests during the call.
Two of the sources told Reuters that Trump declared Saturday that Venezuela’s airspace was closed as a result of that safe passage on Friday.
The US or Venezuela did not respond to the report right away.
Maduro, who has been in power since 2013, is not recognized as Venezuela’s legitimate president, according to the Trump administration. In a national election that independent observers claimed the opposition won overwhelmingly, Maduro claimed a re-election victory last year.
Maduro’s appearance at the Caracas rally came amid rumors that he had left the country in response to Trump’s announcement to close Venezuela’s airspace, according to Al Jazeera’s Teresa Bo, who is a reporter from Cucuta on the Colombia-Venezuela border.
Bo claimed that Venezuelans who pass through the Simon Bolivar bridge between the two nations were “extremely concerned about the possibility of a military strike” by the US.
Venezuela continues to deploy military vehicles throughout the nation in the interim. They are guarding Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, and particularly the main highway that runs between the airport and the coastal regions. Vladimir Padrino Lopez, the minister of defense, has shown off some military equipment, including fighter jets and aerial defenses, she claimed.
Sources in Venezuela told Al Jazeera that they are aware that the US cannot compete with the country’s military, she claimed.
“That’s why they’re concentrating on a different strategy. And this might include arbitrary attacks, sabotage, using criminal organizations, supporters of the government, and possibly guerrillas, among others,” Bo said.
Source: Aljazeera
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