He asserts that the Cartel of the Suns is not a parallel criminal organization in Venezuela but rather “the State itself.”
Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López has openly called for US military intervention in Venezuela, a scenario he considers “absolutely legitimate” given the “coup d’état” that, in his opinion, President Nicolás Maduro perpetrated in the July 2024 elections.
“We support any scenario that helps us transition to democracy,” López stated in an interview with Europa Press, in which he emphasized that, today, Maduro’s “exit” from power “represents the greatest point of agreement among Venezuelans.”
The return of magnate Donald Trump to the White House has meant a tightening of US political and economic pressure on Venezuela, to the point that Maduro and other senior Chavista leaders have called for citizen mobilization in anticipation of a possible “invasion.”
The leader of Voluntad Popular, a key figure in the 2014 anti-Chavez protests—he was sentenced to nearly 14 years in prison—has argued that Maduro, as president, is “illegitimate,” so any scenario would be valid now.
Thus, he openly supported the current US military deployment in the region and, when asked if he would also support direct intervention, he responded with a resounding “yes,” predicting that any initiative of this magnitude would receive “a massive response” from Venezuelan society.
“This is how Venezuela’s independence was achieved in Latin America. It is the story of peoples who, when all doors are closed, the paths to freedom are open,” argued López, who arrived in Spain in October 2020 after spending almost seven years in prison.
He even exonerates the US authorities from responsibility for the deaths of Venezuelan citizens resulting from the bombing of several boats carrying alleged drug traffickers. He finds it “regrettable” that people are being recruited by these groups, but believes the “primary responsibility” for their deaths lies with the “regime.”
“Just as they were intercepted by the US deployment, they could easily have been intercepted long ago by the Venezuelan state,” which would instead opt for “complicity” while operating to all intents and purposes as a “criminal structure.”
The Maduro government has responded to the latest US moves with a troop deployment on the Colombian border and a massive recruitment of militia members for national security, but according to López, this call for mobilization has been a “failure.” He sees no risk of armed conflict despite the recurring “threat” from the authorities.
THE CARTEL OF THE SUNS
In Venezuela, “the political and humanitarian aspects cannot be separated from the criminal structure,” a view that López aligns with the Cartel of the Suns, an alleged network whose leader Washington places Maduro himself at the top. Unlike other criminal groups, he noted, the Cartel of the Suns “is not a parallel structure”; it is “the State itself.”
Therefore, he applauded the resolution passed last week in the European Parliament calling on EU member states to designate the organization as a terrorist organization, as the Trump administration has already done, and hopes that the debate will now move to national legislative chambers, including those of Spain.
López stated that Spain knows from its own history that “dictators cling to power” and that Venezuela is currently a drug exit point, as some of it ends up in Spanish territory. For the opposition leader, there is no room for any position that could “legitimize the dictatorship,” and it is time to sever both political and economic relations.
The call extends to the government but also to businesses, including large oil companies, under the premise that a “free and democratic” Venezuela would have “much more stability” and would entail “more growth and opportunities.” “No one is going to invest in a country where there is no rule of law,” he added.
AGAINST OPPONENTS WHO ARE SETTLED WITH “CRUMBS”
The opposition estimates that there are more than 900 political prisoners in the South American country’s prisons, to which must be added public figures who, like López, live in exile under the threat of arrest if they return. Former presidential candidate Edmundo González, also seeking asylum in Spain, finds himself in the same situation.
López considers González “the constitutional president of Venezuela,” as the vote tallies collected by the opposition show he obtained more than 70 percent of the vote in the 2024 elections. “He represents legality, legitimacy, and the hope for a stable democratic transition,” he emphasized.
Regarding María Corina Machado, the opposition’s initial candidate for the last elections, López continues to view her “without a doubt” as the main figurehead of the dissident movement. In Machado’s case, the leader of Vente Venezuela is reportedly still in the country, although her whereabouts are unknown because she is also facing accusations that could lead to her imprisonment.
López praised the role of González and Machado compared to other opposition figures who, like Henrique Capriles, have decided to “dance to the dictatorship’s tune,” a “tailor-made” opposition that ends up settling for the “crumbs” offered by the government. It’s something “very undignified,” in his opinion, and it “has no impact on the collective aspirations of the vast majority of Venezuelans.”
