Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize last week, has called for greater US support to stop what she described as a “war” on her country by President Nicolás Maduro.

The president also defended U.S. military attacks on boats in the Caribbean: “When they’re loaded up with drugs, they’re fair game.”

Venezuela accuses the United States of attempting to overthrow Maduro, who faces a $50 million US bounty and denies allegations of drug trafficking.

President Donald Trump said today he authorized the CIA to operate inside Venezuela to clamp down on illegal flows of migrants and drugs from the South American nation, but stopped short of saying they would have authority to remove President Nicolas Maduro.