"Interpret it however you want: the Armed Forces will not allow a government here that is subservient to the interests of the United States," minister Vladimir Padrino said on state television.

"Never again slaves. We are a free country," he insisted amid a US military deployment in the Caribbean for what Washington calls an anti-drug operation but Caracas suspects is preparation for a coup.

The Pentagon said Friday it was deploying an aircraft carrier strike group to counter drug trafficking in Latin America, marking a massive increase in US firepower in the region and raising fears Maduro was the real target.

"This is the most significant military threat in the last 100 years," said Padrino. "We do not want war, we want peace."

Maduro has called for dialogue with counterpart Donald Trump.

The United States already has a fleet of Navy ships and stealth warplanes in the region, and strikes on alleged drug-carrying boats have claimed over 40 lives in recent weeks.

Trump has claimed they are "narcoterrorists," without providing evidence, and the victims' governments and family members say they were mainly civilians, including fishermen at sea.

Rights groups say the strikes are illegal even if the targets are drug dealers.

Trump has said he is also mulling attacks on land, prompting Venezuela to launch a series of military exercises.

The US leader accuses Maduro of heading a drug cartel -- charges he denies. In August, Washington doubled a bounty for information leading to Maduro's capture to $50 million.

The Venezuelan leader is widely accused of having stolen elections last year.