CARACAS (Dispatches) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has warned that his country will shift from politics to “armed struggle” if the United States launches an attack.
“Venezuela has always been willing to talk, to engage in dialogue, but we demand respect,” Maduro said in comments broadcast on Venezuelan state media.
“We are currently in a political phase,” he said. “But if Venezuela is attacked in any way, we will move to a stage of armed struggle.”
He made the remarks on Friday, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to shoot down Venezuelan military jets if they posed a danger to U.S. forces.
Maduro asserted that the differences between the two countries do not constitute a justification for armed conflict.
U.S. forces on Tuesday blew up a boat in the Caribbean, which Trump claimed belonged to “a Venezuelan criminal organization tied to Maduro,” killing 11 people.
As tensions mount, Washington is also deploying 10 stealth F-35 warplanes to Puerto Rico as part of what Trump claims to be “war on drug cartels,” U.S. media reports.
Maduro has rejected accusations of involvement in drug trafficking, saying, “Those intelligence reports they give Trump are not true.”
“Venezuela today is a country free from coca leaf production, cocaine, and is a country that fights against drug trafficking.”
In late August, the U.S. deployed a fleet of vessels along with more than 4,500 U.S. service members, including some 2,200 Marines, and also guided missile destroyers, warships, and a nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine.
In addition, U.S. military aircraft, including P-8 spy planes, have been flying in international airspace to gather intelligence.
On Friday, Venezuelan jets buzzed over the guided-missile destroyer Jason Dunham, demonstrating strength and making Trump respond on the same day by saying, “If they do put us in a dangerous position, they’ll be shot down.”
The U.S. and Venezuela have long been at odds, with Washington backing opposition leaders and imposing sanctions aimed at pressuring Maduro’s government.
Caracas, however, rejects foreign interference, with President Maduro saying, “The U.S. government must abandon its plan for violent regime change in Venezuela and throughout Latin America and the Caribbean,” and that it must respect the “sovereignty, right to peace and independence” of the countries in this region.
The Venezuelan president says the magnitude of U.S. arms deployment in the region represents “the biggest threat in 100 years,” and has reportedly mobilized a 4.5 million-member Bolivarian Militia, declaring “a republic in arms” if attacked.