Maduro: Not interested in “a slave’s peace”

TT

Published 2025-12-01 23.27

 

Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro speaking to supporters in Caracas on Monday. Photo: Ariana Cubillos/AP/TT

Venezuela will not agree to “a slave’s peace” with the United States.

That was the message delivered by the Latin American country’s leader Nicolás Maduro to thousands of supporters on Monday.

US President Donald Trump has gradually increased pressure on Caracas in recent months, including through repeated military attacks in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific against what are claimed to have been drug-smuggling boats. More than 80 people have been killed in the attacks.

In parallel, 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 the measures are aimed at curbing drug trafficking in the region. This is 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 the peace of a slave 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.