Venezuela’s Maduro says U.S. is ‘fabricating’ a war, as he seeks to revoke rival’s citizenship

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said the United States government is forging a war against his country as the world’s biggest warship approaches the South American nation, while he moved to revoke the citizenship of an opponent he accuses of egging on an invasion.

Maduro said in a national broadcast Friday night that the administration of President Trump was “fabricating a new eternal war” as the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford, which can carry 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 as he started legal proceedings seeking to revoke the citizenship and cancel the passport of opposition politician Leopoldo López.

“They promised they would never again get involved in a war and they are fabricating a war that we will avoid,” said Maduro. 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.”

American forces have destroyed several boats off the Venezuelan coast, allegedly for their role in trafficking drugs into the U.S. At least 43 people have been killed in those attacks. Some human rights groups and governments call the attacks extrajudicial killings and a violation of international law.

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 human smuggling.

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

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

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

The vice president said that López’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 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,” López wrote. “After having stolen the 2024 election, we agree to pursue all avenues to end the dictatorship,” the politician added.

López 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.