Venezuela's president, Nicolas Maduro, has threatened retaliation after the United States government recently deployed warships near his country in the Caribbean.

Speaking during a news conference Monday in Caracas, Maduro said his country was at 'maximum preparedness' to boost its maritime force in the waters off Venezuela this week.

The United States has already ordered the deployment of spy planes, a warship, and even a submarine to the Southern Caribbean Sea to address the growing threat posed by Latin American drug cartels.

'In the face of this maximum military pressure, we have declared maximum preparedness for the defense of Venezuela,' Maduro said of the U.S. deployment, which he characterized as 'an extravagant, unjustifiable, immoral and absolutely criminal and bloody threat.'

He also warned that U.S. military action against Venezuela would 'stain' President Donald Trump’s 'hands with blood'.

'President Donald Trump, the pursuit of regime change is exhausted; it has failed as a policy worldwide,' Maduro said. 'You cannot pretend to impose a situation in Venezuela.'

The dictator also called Secretary of State Marco Rubio a 'warlord' pushing for action in the Caribbean to topple Venezuela’s Left-wing regime.

The U.S. has not signaled any planned land invasion by the thousands of personnel being deployed.

Maduro also used his news conference to insist that he was the legitimate winner of last year’s presidential election.

But credible evidence has shown the contrary, prompting several countries, including the U.S., to not recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s president.

Maduro, sworn in to a third six-year term in January, added that his regime maintains two lines of communication with the Trump administration, one with the State Department and another with Trump’s envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell.