ISTANBUL

People in the US should “unite with Venezuela for the peace (of the Americas),” Venezuela’s president urged Thursday amid a significant US military buildup in the Caribbean.

“No more endless wars. No more unjust wars. No more Libya. No more Afghanistan,” Nicolas Maduro told CNN in the capital Caracas.

Asked if he had a message for US President Donald Trump, Maduro said simply, in English: “Yes peace, yes peace.”

Maduro spoke to the news channel on the sidelines of a rally of thousands of his supporters before addressing the crowd, telling them they must remain vigilant against what he called the threat of a US invasion.

Washington has deployed more than a dozen warships, including an aircraft carrier, and some 15,000 personnel to the region, describing the operation as part of an expanded campaign against drug trafficking. Caracas, however, accuses the US of preparing for regime change.

Since the sinking of a Venezuelan speedboat in the Caribbean Sea in early September, the US military has conducted at least 20 strikes on alleged drug-trafficking vessels, without giving any evidence they were involved in drug smuggling, resulting in a total of 80 deaths.

In response to the strikes, Venezuela has mobilized both regular military units and civilian militias across the country.

Maduro recently announced that the country had deployed 5,000 Russian-made Igla-S anti-aircraft missiles to strengthen its air defense capabilities.