Venezuela's authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro called on friendly countries to "unite" to defend its "right to sovereignty, peace and self-determination" as U.S. warships move off its coast.
Speaking at an extraordinary ALBA-TCP summit, Maduro began with a call to "the national unity of all Venezuelans to guarantee peace with sovereignty, territorial integrity, self-determination of the peoples."
He then addressed the group's countries, saying "I dare, brothers of Latin America and the Caribbean, to call for the union of all rebel people, social movements, to defend Venezuela's right to sovereignty, peace, self-determination and its own development."
🚨 ¡ÚLTIMA HORA VENEZUELA! 🚨🇻🇪
— ¡DIFUNDELO YA! (@DIFUNDELOYA) August 20, 2025
El Terrorista Nicolás Maduro pide auxilio y hace un llamado a los países aliados para que lo defiendan. pic.twitter.com/vgoSvZ4mvq
"Our union is what has made us strong," Maduro told representatives of Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Kitts and Nevis, Grenada and St. Lucia.
The group then published a press release condemning the U.S.'s "imperialistic and destabilizing policy, which, through unilateral coercive measures, diplomatic blackmailing and media campaigns, seeks to undermine the region's peace and sovereignty."
The deployment of U.S. forces near the Venezuelan coast is completely dominating the conversation in the South American country. On Wednesday, Jorge Rodriguez, president of Venezuela's regime-friendly Legislative Assembly, said all people who enter the country unlawfully will be arrested.
"Whoever it may be. Foreigners who enter the country unlawfully can come in, but won't come out. They'll stay here. In prison," Rodriguez said during an Assembly session, a statement greeted by applause from those present.
Also on Wednesday, Attorney General Tarek William Saab said that the Trump administration's deployment is a "farse" to target Maduro.
"The U.S. empire has tried, and failed due to global rejection, using the farce of fighting drug-trafficking to place an unprecedented reward" on Maduro, the official said.
Maduro, on his end, said earlier this week that "the empire has gone mad," adding that the Trump administration is "fabricating extravagant lies" and "has regurgitated its threats to Venezuela's peace and stability."
Reuters reported on Wednesday that the U.S. has ordered an amphibious squadron to the region as part of the deployment. Concretely, the USS San Antonio, USS Iowa Jima and USS Fort Lauderdale will carry 4,500 service members, including 2,200 marines. They could arrive as early as Sunday.
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