Caracas, Venezuela - The Venezuelan army swore in 5,600 soldiers on Saturday in response to mounting military threats from US President Donald Trump's administration.

President Nicolás Maduro has called for stepped-up military recruitment after the US deployed a fleet of warships and the world's largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean under the pretext of combating drug trafficking.

American forces have carried out deadly strikes on more than 20 vessels, killing at least 87.

Trump administration has accused Maduro of leading the so-called "Cartel of the Suns," which it declared a terrorist organization last month despite little evidence that it even exists as such.

Maduro insists American deployment aims to overthrow him and seize the country's oil reserves.

"Under no circumstances will we allow an invasion by an imperialist force," Colonel Gabriel Rendon said Saturday during a ceremony at Fuerte Tiuna, Venezuela's largest military complex, in Caracas.

According to official figures, Venezuela has around 200,000 troops and an additional 200,000 police officers.

Maduro has repeatedly vowed to protect his country's sovereignty at all costs, while also making attempts to defuse the rising tensions.

"We want peace, but peace with sovereignty, equality, freedom!" he said this week. "We do not want a slave's peace, nor the peace of colonies."