President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela has accused the United States government of orchestrating a conflict against him, as the largest warship in existence draws near to Venezuela’s shores. Concurrently, he is taking steps to strip citizenship from an opposition leader he claims is encouraging an invasion.

On Saturday, Maduro highlighted the ongoing pressure from the US, as he initiated legal actions to revoke the citizenship and invalidate the passport of Leopoldo López, a prominent political opponent.

In a speech delivered on Friday night, Maduro stated, “They vowed never to engage in another war, yet they are constructing one that we will strive to prevent.”

Meanwhile, former President Trump has accused Maduro, albeit without providing substantiating evidence, of leading the criminal organization known as Tren de Aragua.

Maduro responded, “They are crafting an outrageous story, one that is crude, criminal, and completely false,” and added, “Venezuela is not a country that cultivates coca leaves.”

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 US 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 nationality 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 US ships in the Caribbean and attacks on suspected 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 US 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 anti-government 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.