Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado warned this week that Venezuela is the only country in the Western hemisphere with the capacity to produce Iranian combat drones.
Machado has remained in hiding in Venezuela for almost a year, facing threats of arrest from the socialist regime over a litany of dubious “terrorist” charges in the wake of the fraudulent July 2024 election, which socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro “won.” On Wednesday night, Machado held an online interview in which she stressed the strategic and military links between Venezuela and Iran and the over 400 agreements signed by the two rogue regimes.
Machado warned that the Maduro regime represents a growing threat to the regional security of the Western hemisphere and the United States, and alleged that Venezuela is presently the only country in the region that can manufacture Iranian combat drones.
“The West wants to save itself, yes, but for the West to be saved, the first step is to understand that the greatest risk lies in Venezuela and cannot be contained within our borders,” Machado said. “And that has become crystal clear. Who is Putin’s greatest ally in Latin America? Nicolás Maduro. Who is the Iranian regime’s greatest ally in Latin America? Nicolás Maduro.”
The opposition leader said that Venezuela is the only other country in the Western Hemisphere besides the United States that has the capacity to build combat drones, “obviously of Iranian origin, which operate here at the Libertador Base.”
“Venezuela is hours away from Florida, not close to Tehran, and you tell me if in a context like the one we live in, this is not a real threat,” Machado said, before the online interview suffered a technical difficulty that resumed with Machado stating that the Maduro regime has provided Venezuelan passports to Hezbollah and that Venezuela has sent gold to Iran in exchange for weapons.
Machado asserted that, to dismantle Iran and Islamic terrorism’s networks, Iran’s operations in Venezuela must be dismantled. She criticized Maduro’s recent bolstered support of Iran and his antagonistic stance against the United States, Israel, and Europe. Machado said that Maduro’s support of Iran is “tying him to a sinking ship.”
The Venezuelan socialist regime’s pursuit of Iranian drone technology spans over a decade and began with late dictator Hugo Chávez, who deepened Venezuela’s ties with Iran throughout his rule (1999-2013). Both regimes easily bonded over their shared anti-U.S. and anti-Israel ideological stances.
In 2012, Chávez revealed his plans to manufacture “surveillance” drones using Iranian technology for “defensive” purposes. Chávez officially died from an undisclosed form of cancer in March 2013, and was immediately succeeded by Maduro, whom Chávez publicly appointed as his successor in December 2012. Maduro had Venezuela further deepen its bonds with Iran and has in recent years begun to depend on Iranian aid in larger droves to help offset the collapse of socialism in Venezuela.
Reports published in January indicated that Venezuela signed a deal with Iran to set up an Iranian drone development facility at the El Libertador air base, located in the central-Venezuelan city of Maracay where training for Venezuelan military personnel is also being carried out.
According to the reports, the agreement calls for the production of a “wide range” of Iranian drones, such as the ANSU-100 (Mohajer-2), the ANSU-600 (Mohajer-6), and the ZAMORA V-1 (Shahed-131).
“These drones, designed for reconnaissance and attack missions, represent a significant technological advance in Venezuela’s military capacity, with the direct support of Tehran,” the report read.
In 2022 — during a military parade in Los Proceres, Caracas, commemorating Venezuela’s July 5 Independence Day — the Maduro regime showcased the first set of Iranian anti-tank and anti-personnel combat drones assembled in Venezuelan territory. The Iranian Mohajer-2 drones were reportedly rebranded by the Maduro regime as the “Antonio José de Sucre-100,” giving the drones the name of a Venezuelan independence hero.
Venezuelan Interior Minister and wanted drug lord Diosdado Cabello rejected Machado’s remarks during the latest broadcast of his socialist show Hitting with the Mallet, asserting that Machado hopes that “the gringos do something” and attack the Maduro regime.
Cabello, reading an alleged “tip” from an anonymous “cooperating patriot” said that Machado’s accusations about Venezuela having Iranian combat drone manufacturing capabilities are part a purported strategy with “her Zionist friends” in Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party to get Venezuela into the conflict with Iran “through the creation of false positives.”
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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