Venezuelan opposition leaders Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia and Maria Corina Machado announced on Monday their support for the U.S. military deployment in the Caribbean against drug trafficking, which Nicolas Maduro’s government views as a “threat” aimed at “regime change.”
“The U.S.-led anti-drug blockade in the Caribbean (…) is a necessary measure to dismantle the criminal structure that remains the only obstacle to restoring popular sovereignty in Venezuela,” said former presidential candidate Gonzalez Urrutia in a video. He claims to have won the 2024 presidential election and denounces what he calls fraud by Maduro’s camp.
“The Venezuelan people (…) have no other option but to force this regime out and restore the popular and sovereign mandate,” Gonzalez added. He has been in exile in Spain for a year after an arrest warrant was issued against him.
The United States deployed eight ships and a submarine to the Caribbean nearly a month ago and reported that at least three vessels carrying alleged drug traffickers from Venezuela were destroyed, leaving 14 people dead.
Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez denounced what he called an “undeclared war” on Friday, asserting that the armed forces were ready to respond to a possible U.S. intervention.
The U.S. has also accused Nicolas Maduro of drug trafficking and placed a bounty on his head. The Venezuelan president rejects these accusations and, in a letter made public on Sunday, invited his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump to “preserve peace through dialogue.”
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who has been living in hiding after being accused of plotting against the government, also released a video statement on Monday: “We have very little time left before Venezuelans recover their sovereignty and democracy. We are ready to take the reins of the new government,” she said.
