CARACAS – Venezuelan opposition leaders Edmundo González Urrutia and María Corina Machado have publicly endorsed the United States’ military presence in the Caribbean, a deployment the government of President Nicolás Maduro has labeled a “threat.”

In a video message directed at world leaders gathered in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, the opposition figures argued that the U.S. presence is a necessary step to help dismantle what they described as “the criminal structure of the Maduro government.”

Nearly a month ago, Washington deployed several naval vessels and a submarine to the region, citing the fight against drug trafficking as its primary mission. Since then, U.S. forces have intercepted and destroyed at least three vessels allegedly used by Venezuelan smugglers, resulting in 14 deaths.

The Maduro administration has denounced the U.S. deployment as “aggression” and a “military threat.” Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López went further on Friday, describing the situation as an “undeclared war.”

The sharply contrasting positions highlight the deep political divide in Venezuela, where the opposition views international pressure—and now direct U.S. military activity—as a critical tool to challenge Maduro’s rule, while the government frames it as an assault on national sovereignty.