Venezuelan president tells Donald Trump: 'We are ready to defend our country' amid threats of US land attacks
Amid growing tensions with Donald Trump's administration, which has been targeting what it calls "drug-smuggling" boats in South American waters, Maduro issued a rallying cry to Venezuelans at a rally in Caracas
Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro says his people are ready to defend their country from a potential US land attack.
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Amid growing tensions with Donald Trump's administration, which has been targeting what it calls "drug-smuggling" boats in South American waters, Maduro issued a rallying cry to Venezuelans at a rally in Caracas.
It comes after the US president warned last week that land strikes on the South American nation would start "very soon", with "many options" discussed by Trump and his national security team on Monday.
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Maduro has been accused by the White House of being involved in the global drug trade, after American forces carried out 21 strikes on boats it claims were carrying narcotics into its country in the last five months.
The Venezuelan leader - widely considered a dictator by the West - denies the claims and said his nation was ready "to defend [the country] and lead it to the path of peace".
"We have lived through 22 weeks of aggression that can only be described as psychological terrorism," he said.
Venezuela believe Mr Trump's true motivation is to access its oil reserves, which it says is only achievable via the removal of Mr Maduro.
They have also accused the American leader of murder, after 80 people were killed in the boat attacks.
The Pentagon has sought to justify the legality of the attacks by labelling the alleged drug smuggling gangs as foreign terrorist organisations.
Concerns have been raised about America's manoeuvres in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific, with its flagship aircraft carrier and thousands of troops currently deployed in the area.
No evidence has been provided by the US to support its claims that the boats it has destroyed were smuggling drugs.
On September 2, 11 people were killed in a US strike on a boat, with a follow-up strike ordered by defence secretary Pete Hegseth after two survivors were left in the water.
Concerns were raised about the legality of the second strike if the survivors posed no threat.
Mr Hegseth reportedly gave the order to ensure everyone on board was killed - a claim he dismissed as "fake news".
"Every trafficker we kill is affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization," he said on X.
Trump also denied that his defence secretary gave such an order, adding that he would not have personally wanted a second strike.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also denied Mr Hegseth gave the order for the follow-up, but clarified that he had authorised US navy vice admiral Frank Bradley to attack.
She added that the admiral acted "well within his authority and the law, directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the US was eliminated".
As the US plans its next move, Trump is said to be looking to close Venezuela's airspace, calling the country a "colonial threat" and "illegal, and unjustified aggression".