Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores visit the construction site of a hotel complex in Caraballeda, Venezuela March 2, 2019. Miraflores Palace/Handout via REUTERS

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Tuesday he would defeat a “crazed minority” determined to destabilize the country in his first public comments since opposition leader Juan Guaido defied him by returning home on Monday.

Maduro, during a ceremony to commemorate the sixth anniversary of the death of his predecessor Hugo Chavez, called on supporters to attend “anti-imperialist” demonstrations on March 9, coinciding with an opposition march announced by Guaido.