Venezuela's leader rejects 'slave's peace' under threat

CARACAS — Venezuela does not want "a slave's peace", President Nicolas Maduro told supporters on Monday, as United States military deployment has been "testing" his country for months.

"We want peace, but peace with sovereignty, peace with equality, peace with freedom; we do not want the peace of slaves or the peace of colonies. A colony never, slaves never," Maduro said, noting that the 22-week US military "aggression" can be described as "psychological terrorism".

National power is grounded in citizen participation and "rests on the immense strength of its people, their awareness, their institutions, their rifles and their determination to build this homeland above any difficulty", he said.

Strengthening that social fabric makes national power "invincible, eternal and perpetual", he said. The goal is to preserve "peace with dignity" by defending the republic and the country's political autonomy, he added.

US President Donald Trump has intensified pressure on Venezuela with a significant naval build-up in the Caribbean, carrying out strikes on vessels suspected of smuggling drugs since September.

Maduro and his government have denied all criminal accusations and said the US is seeking regime change to take control of Venezuela's vast natural resources, including oil.

Since early September, US troops have carried out at least 21 strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, killing at least 83 people.

Strike under scrutiny

On Monday, the White House defended a Navy admiral's decision to conduct multiple strikes on an alleged Venezuelan drug-smuggling vessel in a September military operation that has come under bipartisan scrutiny.

The Washington Post had reported that a second strike was ordered to kill two survivors from the initial strike and to comply with an order by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that everyone be killed.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Admiral Frank Bradley "worked well within his authority and the law" when he ordered the Sept 2 strike, as lawmakers announced there will be congressional review of the strikes against vessels suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean and the Pacific.

George Washington University law professor Laura Dickinson said most legal experts do not believe the boat strikes qualify as armed conflict, so lethal force would only be allowed as a last resort.

"It would be murder outside of armed conflict," she said. Even in war, the killing of survivors "would likely be a war crime".

Bradley is expected to provide a classified briefing to lawmakers overseeing the military on Thursday.

Xinhua - Agencies