Maduro Rejects Machado’s Claim That ‘60% of Venezuelans Are in Drug Trafficking’

On episode 99 of his “Con Maduro+” program, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro repudiated statements by far-right leader María Corina Machado claiming that 60% of the Venezuelan population is linked to drug trafficking.

“She said something very serious—I don’t know if the Public Prosecutor’s Office heard it. She said 60% of the Venezuelan population is involved in drug trafficking—that is, of every 10 Venezuelans, six are in drug trafficking,” Maduro said, referring to her as La Sayona. “The demon, the criminal… I usually don’t pay attention to anything she does because she is demented with hatred, but I can’t stay silent about this.”

President Maduro cited a Dataviva poll showing that 89% of Venezuelans reject Machado. “This criminal who calls the Venezuelan people ‘drug traffickers.’ This criminal who calls for an invasion and the killing of Venezuelans in an imperialist US invasion,” the visibly indignant president accused.

On Dec. 11, during a press conference in Oslo, Norway, after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, Machado was asked by a journalist whether she would support a US military intervention in Venezuela. She responded that Venezuela was “already invaded” by “Russian agents, Iranian agents, terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Hamas, as well as guerrilla groups and drug cartels.”

Machado added that “the drug cartels have taken over 60% of our population and are not only involved in drug trafficking but also in human trafficking and prostitution networks.”

According to Machado, Venezuela has become “the criminal hub of the Americas,” implying support for US military action—though she did not state it explicitly.

Her remarks sparked outrage on social media.

Many users described her comments as an attempt to dehumanize the Venezuelan people and justify military intervention—similar to the way Palestinians have been labeled “terrorists” for years by politicians and media to legitimize a massacre claiming more than 70,000 lives over the past two years. Another parallel is the more than 80 boatmen killed by the US government in the Caribbean Sea after being repeatedly branded “drug traffickers”—a narrative used to justify bombing them rather than detaining and inspecting them, as required by international law.

Regarding Machado’s remarks, social media user Alex Briones wrote: “Now it’s even harder for me to believe Machado won an election with the 60% of voters she claims to have, because now she’s asking the United States to bomb them all! Is this how she rewards her supporters?”

Another user, Jaime Mercant Simó, posted: “As the new Nobel Peace Prize laureate, María Corina is offering a supposed ‘authorized narrative’ to the US government so that, in the eyes of public opinion, this hegemon can soon use armed force against Venezuela and seize control of the nation and its precious resources.” Mercant Simó, an opponent of the Venezuelan government, nonetheless rejected Machado’s stance, urging the opposition to continue its struggle—but never, “under any circumstances, sell out their country to the United States and globalist interests.”

International Condemnation Against US Theft of Venezuelan Oil Tanker Grows

President Maduro: 96% of the Venezuelan people repudiate today’s privateers
Ninety-six percent of Venezuelan citizens—regardless of religion, ideology, political position, or economic or social status—condemn the act of piracy committed by the US government on Dec. 10 against a ship transporting Venezuelan oil, “which flagrantly violates international law and takes us back to the era of pirates and privateers,” said President Maduro, citing a Dataviva survey.

“Ninety-six percent of the Venezuelan people, whose blood runs with the spirit of liberty, repudiate today’s privateers,” he said, describing the seizure as “an act of piracy that violates international law and takes us back to the times of pirates and privateers.”

He recalled that in the 18th and 19th centuries, pirates were lawless bandits who plundered ships and coastal towns, while privateers were state-authorized raiders who carried “letters of marque” from empires like Spain or Britain to legally plunder enemy vessels.

“Today, in the 21st century, Venezuela is defending humanity’s right to prevent the return of a world ruled by pirates and privateers who for centuries plundered the peoples of the world,” he stated.

Maduro added that over the weekend, more than 300 street mobilizations took place across Venezuela in rejection of these “excessive actions.”

(Alba Ciudad)

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/JB/SH