The leader of Chavismo, Nicolas Maduro, wished everyone a happy New Year 2026 and said that in this coming period Venezuela's military development will be strengthened to protect it from “imperial threats and doctrines,” at a time when it faces tensions with the United States over the North American nation's air and naval deployment in the Caribbean Sea.

2026 will be a “year to strengthen technical and military development that guarantees the protection of the homeland and irreversible independence from imperial threats and doctrines,” Maduro said from the Miraflores presidential palace in his New Year's message, broadcast on state channel VTV.

The president assured that the homeland “is safe and protected with the perfect union” between police and military and highlighted as “an achievement” the “consecration of national identity” which, he said, “was firmly manifested in the face of the imperial threats to plunder our riches in recent weeks.”

Maduro also indicated that 2026 will be the year of the “admirable challenge,” of overcoming “rent-seeking” and “consolidating the power of the new democracy.”

“I will always be loyal to you (…) To every inch of land, sea And to the heavens of this sacred nation, we will be loyal, always loyal, and with that feeling of communion, I welcome 2026 with you,” added the president, who bid farewell to 2025 by describing it as a year of “important challenges.”

“Threats” from the United States

Since last August, the Venezuelan government has denounced “threats” from the United States due to the military deployment ordered by that country’s president, Donald Trump, in the Caribbean, near the Venezuelan coast, under the pretext of combating drug trafficking.

Tensions between Caracas and Washington escalated after Trump’s announcement to block all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, and the confiscation of two ships transporting Venezuelan crude in recent days.

The US president also announced on Friday an attack against a “large facility” at a dock, but did not specify whether it occurred within Venezuelan territory.

According to a report in the New York Times on Monday, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) carried out a drone attack last week against a port facility in Venezuela.

However, the Venezuelan government has not yet commented.

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