US President Donald Trump has been gradually increasing pressure on Caracas in recent months, including through repeated military strikes in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific against what are claimed to be drug-smuggling boats. More than 80 people have been killed in the attacks.
In parallel with this, several US warships have been moved to waters near Venezuela and this weekend Trump ordered the airspace over the country to be closed.
Washington claims that the measures are aimed at curbing drug trafficking in the region, a claim dismissed by Caracas, which claims that it is in fact an attempt at regime change.
"We want peace, but it must be a peace that includes sovereignty, equality and freedom. We are not interested in either a slave's peace or a peace on the terms of the colonizers," Maduro said at a campaign rally in the capital on Monday evening.
The speech was given just a few hours after CNN, citing sources, reported that Trump will hold a meeting with, among others, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to discuss the next steps in the situation regarding Venezuela.
