Maduro Regime Strips Venezuelan Opposition Leader Leopoldo López of Passport, Considers Nationality Revocation
The Nicolás Maduro government in Venezuela has announced the immediate cancellation of the passport belonging to exiled opposition leader Leopoldo López, and initiated proceedings to revoke his Venezuelan nationality. The move, widely condemned by international observers, escalates the ongoing political repression against dissent within the South American nation.
A senior official stated that the decision stems from López’s alleged calls for foreign intervention and his opposition to the Maduro regime. The official further indicated that the process aligns with Article 130 of the Venezuelan Constitution, which stipulates a duty for citizens to “honor and defend the homeland.”
According to the statement, the cancellation will be carried out swiftly by the Chancellery and the SAIME (Administrative Service for Identification, Migration and Immigration). Maduro himself reportedly filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of Justice seeking López’s denationalization.
The vice president denounced López’s actions as a “grotesque, criminal and illegal call for the military invasion of Venezuela,” as well as his alleged promotion of economic sanctions and incitement to violence. “The Venezuelan State has sufficient resources to guarantee the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic against foreign powers and those willing to undermine national independence,” the official concluded.
López has resided in Spain since October 2020, following nearly seven years of imprisonment in Venezuela. His imprisonment stemmed from his role in leading protests against the Maduro government in 2018. Prior to that, López was a prominent opponent of then-President Hugo Chávez, being disqualified from running for mayor of Caracas in 2008.
The escalating actions against López come amidst international recognition of the Venezuelan opposition’s struggle for democracy. López recently lauded the awarding of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to Maria Corina Machado, stating it was “also a recognition of a people determined to change.”
Machado received the prestigious award “for her tireless work in promoting the democratic rights of the Venezuelan people and for her fight to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy,” as announced by the Norwegian Nobel Committee. López emphasized that the prize “honors the strength of a people determined to change, who will stop nothing and no one until a free and democratic Venezuela is achieved.”
The Maduro regime’s actions against López and other opposition figures underscore the deepening political crisis in Venezuela and the continued suppression of democratic voices.
