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Venezuelan president claims U.S. is 'fabricating a new eternal war' as warship approaches country

Published: 26 Oct. 2025, 13:11

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro points at a map of the Americas during a conference in Caracas, Venezuela on Sept 15. [AP/YONHAP]

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro said the U.S. government is “fabricating” a war against him as the world's biggest warship approached the South American country, and as he moves to revoke the citizenship of an opponent he accuses of egging on an invasion.

Maduro said in a national broadcast on Friday that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is “fabricating a new eternal war" as the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, which can host up to 90 airplanes and attack helicopters, moves closer to Venezuela.

On Saturday, the Venezuelan president also referred to the pressure he has felt from the U.S. government since starting legal proceedings to revoke the citizenship and cancel the passport of opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez.

“They promised they would never again get involved in a war, and they are fabricating a war that we will avoid,” said Maduro in Friday night's address. Trump has accused him, without providing evidence, of being the leader of the organized crime gang Tren de Aragua.

“They are fabricating an extravagant narrative, a vulgar, criminal and totally fake one," Maduro added. “Venezuela is a country that does not produce cocaine leaves.”

Armed demonstrators march in support of President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela on Sept. 23. [AP/YONHAP]

American forces have destroyed several boats off the Venezuelan coast, allegedly for their role in trafficking drugs into the United States. At least 43 people were killed in those attacks.

Tren de Aragua, which traces its roots to a Venezuelan prison, is not known for having a big role in global drug trafficking but for its involvement in contract killings, extortion and people smuggling.

Maduro was widely accused of stealing last year’s election, and countries, including the United States, have called for him to go.

Earlier, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said on her Telegram account that Maduro had appealed to the country's Supreme Court of Justice to revoke Lopez’s nationality for his “grotesque, criminal and illegal call for a military invasion of Venezuela.”

Lopez, a well-known Venezuelan opposition figure who has been living in exile in Spain since 2020, has publicly expressed his support for the deployment of U.S. ships in the Caribbean and attacks on suspected drug trafficking vessels.

The vice president said that Lopez’s passport will be revoked “immediately,” and that he is also accused of promoting “economic blockage” and “calling for the mass murder of Venezuelans in complicity with enemy and foreign governments.”

The opposition leader reacted on his X, formerly Twitter, account, dismissing the move because “according to the Constitution, no Venezuelan born in Venezuela can have their nationality revoked.” He once more expressed support for a U.S. military deployment and military actions in the country.

“Maduro wants to take away my nationality for saying what all Venezuelans think and want: freedom,” Lopez wrote. “After having stolen the 2024 election, we agree to pursue all avenues to end the dictatorship,” the politician added.

Lopez spent more than three years in a military prison after participating in antigovernment protests in 2014. He was sentenced to more than 13 years in prison on charges of “instigation and conspiracy to commit a crime.”

He was later granted house arrest and, after being released by a group of military personnel during a political crisis in Venezuela, left the country in 2020.

AP