Tensions between the two countries soared in recent days after the Pentagon accused Venezuela of buzzing its ships in the Caribbean following a deadly US strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat.
"None of the differences we have and have had can lead to a military conflict," Maduro said in a message broadcast on all of Venezuela's radio and television networks.
"Venezuela has always been willing to talk, to engage in dialogue, but we demand respect," he added.
As tensions mount, Washington is deploying F-35 warplanes to Puerto Rico as part of Trump's war on drug cartels.
The 10 aircraft will join US warships already present in the southern Caribbean as Trump steps up pressure on Maduro, whom the United States accuses of leading a drug cartel.
Maduro denied that in his evening speech.
"Those intelligence reports they give him (Trump) are not true," Maduro said. "Venezuela today is a country free from coca leaf production, cocaine, and is a country that fights against drug trafficking."
- 'Dangerous position' -
Asked earlier Friday what steps he would take if there were further incidents of Venezuelan jets buzzing US ships, Trump said: "If they do put us in a dangerous position, they'll be shot down."
US forces on Tuesday blew up an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean that Trump said belonged to Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan criminal organization he tied to Maduro, killing 11 people.
The high-tech F-35 jets are being deployed to an airfield in Puerto Rico, a US Caribbean island territory of more than three million people, US sources familiar with the matter told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Maduro -- a leftist firebrand whose last election in 2024 was seen by Washington as illegitimate -- has denounced the US buildup as "the greatest threat our continent has seen in the last 100 years."
Declaring his country prepared for "armed struggle in defense of the national territory," he has mobilized Venezuela's military, which numbers around 340,000, and reservists, which he claims exceed eight million.
From his side, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller described Maduro as an "indicted drug trafficker" and said Venezuela is being run by a "drug cartel, a narcotrafficking organization."
Tuesday's deadly attack on what Washington said was a drug-carrying boat was a major escalation, as well as an unusual use of the US military for what has historically been a law enforcement issue.
There are currently eight US Navy vessels involved in counter-narcotics efforts in Latin America: three amphibious assault ships, two destroyers, a cruiser and a littoral combat ship in the Caribbean, and one destroyer in the eastern Pacific, a US defense official said this week.
The Department of Defense -- which Trump rebranded Friday as the "Department of War" -- said two "Maduro regime" aircraft flew near a US vessel Thursday.
"This highly provocative move was designed to interfere with our counter narco-terror operations," it said on X. It did not give further details.
Venezuela has 15 F-16 fighter jets purchased from the United States in the 1980s, plus a number of Russian fighters and helicopters.
During a trip to Latin America this week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the new aggressive approach towards what Washington calls "narcoterrorist" groups.
"What will stop them is when you blow them up, when you get rid of them," Rubio said Wednesday in Mexico.
Differences with US do not justify military conflict: Venezuela's Maduro
Caracas (AFP) Sept 5, 2025 -
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro said Friday that differences with the United States did not justify a military conflict, urging dialogue after counterpart Donald Trump threatened to shoot down Venezuelan jets that threaten US forces.
"None of the differences we have and have had can lead to a military conflict," Maduro said in a message broadcast on all the country's radio and television networks.
"It has no justification," the president added as he denied Trump's claims that Venezuela, and he himself, form the nexus of a vast drug trafficking network.
Washington recently upped a bounty to $50 million for Maduro's capture on drug charges, claiming he leads a narco-terrorist cartel.
It has deployed several warships to the southern Caribbean in what was labeled an anti-drug operation, and on Friday Trump threatened to shoot down Venezuelan jets if they pose a danger to US forces.
This came after the Pentagon said two Venezuelan military planes flew near a US Navy vessel in international waters Thursday in a "highly provocative" move.
The United States is now also deploying F-35 warplanes to Puerto Rico as part of its war on cartels.
"Those intelligence reports they give him (Trump) are not true. Venezuela today is a country free from coca leaf production, cocaine, and is a country that fights against drug trafficking," Maduro said.
"Venezuela has always been willing to talk, to engage in dialogue, but we demand respect," he added.
In face of US 'threat,' how does Venezuela's military stack up?
Caracas (AFP) Sept 4, 2025 -
With an ill-disciplined military and an outdated arsenal, Venezuela would be at a serious disadvantage in the event of an American invasion, experts say.
President Nicolas Maduro has declared his country prepared for "a period of armed struggle in defense of the national territory" in the eventuality -- widely deemed unlikely -- of a US attack.
But defeating the world's mightiest military would be an "impossible" endeavor, said a retired Venezuelan general who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity amid rising tension caused by a US deployment of warships in the south Caribbean.
The economicaly troubled South American country has a ragtag collection of Russian fighter jets, Iranian drones, old French tanks and a German submarine, as well as an estimated 340,000-odd men and women in arms.
Venezuela possesses 15 F16 fighter jets purchased from the United States in the 1980s, 173 French AMX-13 tanks, 78 British tanks, and a Sabalo submarine acquired from Germany in 1973.
It has one operational Italian frigate; nine coastal patrol vessels, 25 armed speedboats and three landing vessels for 12 tanks and 200 personnel.
In the 2000s, the country used the windfall from an oil boom to spend billions on its military under Maduro's predecessor, Hugo Chavez.
From Russia, it acquired 23 fighter jets, eight helicopters, 12 anti-aircraft missiles and 44 surface-to-air missile systems between 2006 and 2011 for a $11 billion price tag, according to Evan Ellis of the US Army War College's Strategic Studies Institute.
More recently, under Western sanctions since 2017, Caracas also bought eight Iranian Mohajer drones.
"The problem is that if they are not coordinated, those military systems are useless," said the general, who held several high-ranking positions during his career.
"The Armed Forces do not train collectively to use all these land, air, and sea elements. Coordinating that without prior exercises, complicates the command of a complex operation."
The general also highlighted high levels of desertion and low recruitment rates.
"Morale is far below what is expected for a conflict" situation, he said.
- 'Without due process' -
Maduro claims Venezuela has more than eight million militia members and reservists -- equivalent to about a third of the population.
Analysts say the figure is unrealistic.
The International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) estimates the force at 123,000 soldiers, 220,000 militia -- a civilian arm of the military -- and 8,000 reservists.
The economic collapse that saw an 80 percent drop in Venezuela's GDP under Maduro, who took over from Chavez in 2013, also hit the military even though it is one of Maduro's main sources of support.
Military spending dropped to $3.9 billion dollars in 2023, according to the International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), from a record $6.2 billion in 2013.
Venezuela has petitioned the United Nations to intervene in what it has called a US threat to the country.
On Wednesday, Caracas said the United States had "murdered 11 people without due process" after President Donald Trump announced US forces had killed "narcoterrorists" in a strike on a boat transporting drugs.
Analysts have told AFP the US Caribbean deployment, which it labeled an anti-drug operation, was likely a show of force to put pressure on Maduro, whom it accuses of leading a drug cartel and whose last two reelections it does not recognize.
Maduro fears he is the target of a regime change maneuver, but the International Crisis Group said in a report this week that "the task force dispatched to the vicinity of Venezuela is a fraction of what would be required for a full-scale intervention."
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