The American president Donald Trump and Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro they talked on the phone at the end of last week and even discussed a possible meeting between the two in the United States although there are no concrete plans for it to take place, revealed different sources cited this Friday by the New York Times.
Also participating in the telephone conversation was Secretary of State, Marco Rubio – a staunch opponent of Maduro, whom he considers an illegitimate president – sources with knowledge of the call told the newspaper. However, both officials of the White House and Miraflores refused to talk about the issuealthough the call was confirmed by two people close to the Venezuelan government.
However, Trump had said on Tuesday that “I could talk to save many lives” with Maduroa conversation that would be “welcome” in Venezuela, according to the Venezuelan attorney general, Tarek William Saab.
The conversation would have taken place before November 24, when the Cartel of the Suns designation came into effect as a terrorist organization. According to the United States, the cartel, which would be led by Maduro and other senior officials of the regime, is responsible for “terrorist violence throughout our hemisphere, as well as drug trafficking to the United States and Europe,” along with other organizations such as Aragua Train and the Sinaloa Cartel.
The call relief occurs one day after Trump announced that the United States Armed Forces “they will begin very soon” to “stop” the “drug traffickers of Venezuela” by land too.
“We will begin to stop them on the ground. Also, on land it is easier, but that is going to start very soon. “We warned them to stop sending poison into our country,” Trump said on a Thanksgiving call with the military.
US media have reported several negotiations between members of the Venezuelan government and Washington. Recently, the NOW reported that Maduro had offered the United States a significant participation in the country’s oil fieldsalong with a host of other opportunities for American businesses. But Maduro sought to remain in power, and U.S. officials broke off those talks in early October.
For his part, the Miami Herald said that the Venezuelan vice president, Delcy Rodriguezand his brother, Jorge, had made two proposals to the United States, with the intermediation of Qatar.
The first offer, presented in April, contemplated the Maduro’s resignation in exchange for his permanencewith security guarantees, in Venezuela, where Rodríguez would assume the presidency. In the second, presented in September, Delcy Rodríguez and retired general Miguel Rodríguez Torres would lead a transitional government while Maduro would seek exile in Türkiye or Qatar. But the White House would have rejected both options.
Meanwhile, tension grows in the Caribbean: This week, the Secretary of War, Peter Hegseth, met with the president of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, to “continue the coordination of joint actions in the fight against drug trafficking” and strengthen “the collaboration between both nations,” according to the Dominicans.
The head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, general Dan Caine, He also met with the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
In addition, this Monday the United States carried out attack demonstrations with its B-52H bomber planes in the Caribbean Sea, where the largest American aircraft carrier, the USS Gerard Ford, is located. The demonstrations were carried out within the framework of Operation Southern Lance, an operation launched on November 14 to “expel narcoterrorists from our hemisphere”, according to Hegseth.