Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro claims US destroyer deployment is regime change attempt

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro condemned the deployment of three US warships off his nation’s coast, calling it an “illegal” regime change attempt — though his own presidency is considered illegitimate.

The US is deploying three Aegis guided-missile destroyers to the waters off Venezuela, as President Trump ramps up efforts to combat threats from Latin American drug cartels, US officials said this week.

Trump — who this month issued a $50 million bounty for Maduro’s capture — recently authorized the use of military capabilities for countering former drug cartels, and this is one of the first major shows of force in Latin America since that decision was announced this month.

But the dictator — who Trump considers an illegitimate leader after allegedly stealing his last two elections — claimed the ships are coming for him.

“What they’re threatening to do against Venezuela — regime change, a military terrorist attack — is immoral, criminal and illegal,” Maduro told lawmakers this week.

Maduro said he’d be deploying 4.5 million militia members across his country in response to US “threats.”

“This is a matter of peace, of international law, for Latin America and the Caribbean. Anyone who commits an act of aggression against a country in Latin America is attacking all countries,” he said.

The Justice Department has accused Maduro of leading “The Cartel de los Soles,” which shipped hundreds of tons of cocaine and other illicit drugs to the US since the early 2000s, raking in millions.

In July, they listed the cartel as a specially designated global terrorist group.