Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Monday defiantly dismissed increasing pressure from the U.S., telling the people of his country he would remain steadfast and swearing "absolute loyalty" to them.

"Rest assured that I will never ever fail you. There's no way," he told a crowd in Caracas, where he cheered on supporters and danced to a techno song created from a recent speech during which he called for "peace forever" - in English.

Talking about the standoff with the U.S., Maduro said Venezuela would accept neither "a slave’s peace, nor the peace of colonies!"

"We want peace, but peace with sovereignty, equality, freedom!," he added.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday confirmed that he had recently had a phone conversation with Maduro.

He declined to comment on details of the call, which was first reported by The New York Times, and the Venezuelan communications ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the call.

Since returning to office, Trump has increased pressure on Maduro and his allies, including by doubling to $50 million the reward for information that leads to the Venezuelan leader's arrest on narcoterrorism charges.

A 2020 indictment accused Maduro of leading the Cartel de los Soles, which the U.S. State Department on Monday designated as a foreign terrorist organization.

Trump also is weighing whether to carry out strikes on mainland Venezuela, after carrying out a number of strikes against vessels suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean.

AP Video by Juan Arraez