"We demand the US government cease its illegal, tough interference [into the domestic affairs] in Venezuela and Latin America, abandon its policy of regime changes, state coups and invasions," he told a mass rally in downtown Caracas that was televised by Venezolana de Television, TASS reported.
Venezuela "belongs to the noble sovereign and courageous people and will never be any empire’s colony," he stressed. "The riches of the Venezuelan soil will never be plundered either by gringo invaders or by any empire."
He warned that people "who are working in Venezuela’s fields will take up arms, will use missiles and tanks to defend the country from any aggressive empire." "Peoples of the world support Venezuela" and "the Venezuelan people will ensure peace, stability and development of the country," he pledged.
Prior to the rally, Maduro took part in a grassroots march along Caracas’ streets.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has repeatedly said that his country is facing the most serious threat of an aggression from the United States in the past 100 years. The United States, in his words, is seeking to seize the world’s largest oil deposits in Venezuela.
Meanwhile, Washington has accused Caracas of not doing enough to combat drug smuggling. Under this pretext, a strike group of US warships led by the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford, o nuclear-powered submarine, and more than 16,000 troops have reportedly been deployed by the United States to the Caribbean. Since September, the US has destroyed at least 20 boats and eliminated more than 80 people allegedly involved in drug trafficking from Venezuela.
The US media have repeatedly reported that the United States may soon strike Venezuela. On November 27, Trump said that Washington would very soon begin to fight drug trafficking from Venezuela on land, but did not elaborate. On December 10, he confirmed that the US military will strike ground targets in Latin America to fight against drug cartels.