Nicolas Maduro Reiterates His Regime Will Stand Against The U.S.: 'Can't Fail These People'

Venezuela's authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro reiterated that his regime will stand against the U.S. as the Trump administration escalates its pressure campaign off its coast.

Speaking during a televised address, Maduro said "we can't fail these people, we will defend these people."

He went on to say the population has "a right to their land, their homeland and its wealth." "The people conquer every day their right to life, to peace, to sovereignty," Maduro added.

Elsewhere in the address Maduro called on the Colombian army to join forces with his country's counterparts. He said that the "best guarantee we have for peace and stability in this world is unity." Therefore, he claimed, he was calling on the "Colombian people, its social movements, political forces, its military, to for a perfect union with Venezuela so no one dares to touch our sovereignty."

The call is similar to one made in November by Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who is also going through tensions with the Trump administration.

Concretely, he floated the idea of uniting several South American nations to revive Gran Colombia, the 19th-century republic that once encompassed modern-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama, claiming that he United States' military campaign in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific is undermining regional sovereignty.

Despite the reference, Interior Minister Armando Benedetti later told the Miami Herald that the president's comments were "symbolic."

Moreover, relations between Petro and Maduro are seemingly rocky at the moment, considering that the former called the latter a dictator for the first time this week.

In a social media post, Petro said Maduro is a dictator for concentrating power in Venezuela. Despite that characterization, the Colombian president defended Maduro by saying he is not a drug trafficker, arguing there is no evidence in Colombia linking him to organized crime, as the Trump administration claims.

"Maduro is a dictator for concentrating power," Petro wrote on X. "There is no evidence in Colombia that he is a narco. That is a narrative from the U.S."