The keys
nuevo
Generated with AI
nuevo
Generated with AI
“The answer is yes.” This is how it has been manifested Donald Trump this Sunday aboard Air Force One to a direct question about whether he had spoken directly with his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Madurowhich occurred in the midst of increased tensions in the Caribbean due to Washington’s military deployment. However, the American president refused to give details about the content of the conversation.
“I don’t want to comment on it”he insisted. “I won’t say if it was good or bad. It was a phone call,” he concluded. The conversation between both leaders would have been recorded last week, as revealed on Friday The New York Timesand focused on negotiating a possible meeting between Trump and Maduro on US territory.
The call, which included the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, one of the voices of the Trump Administration pushing to overthrow the Chavista regime, did not result in concrete plans for the meetingaccording to sources cited by the New York newspaper.
Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin, in an interview with CNN this Sunday and asked about the conversation, stated that the Trump Government gave “Nicolás Maduro the opportunity to go to Russia or another country“.
The tension between the US and Venezuela continues to escalate with each passing day despite diplomatic contacts. On Saturday, Trump warned pilots and airlines that Venezuelan airspace and its surroundings are “closed.” Asked if the alert meant an imminent attack on Venezuelan soil, the Republican president refused to talk about his message shared on his Truth Social network.
In contrast, Trump spent several minutes defending Secretary of Defense (now called Secretary of War), Pete Hegseth, who is in the eye of the storm for allegedly ordering “to kill all” the occupants of an alleged drug boat, according to other information from The Washington Post.
According to this newspaper, which cited two sources with direct knowledge of the operation, after the first missile hit the ship, the commanders realized that there were two crew members clinging to remains of the ship. The leader of the operation then ordered a second attack to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, who had ordered to “kill everyone” on the ship.
“(Hegseth) said he didn’t order that and I believe him,” Trump said. The Secretary of Defense has described the newspaper’s information as “fake news”, a recurring expression in the White House to refer to negative articles. However, this time he will have to explain to a Senate committee the ins and outs of the attack, described by Democratic lawmakers as a “war crime.”
Venezuela moves token
On the other hand, the Government of Venezuela denounced to the OPEC+ alliance, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) what it called “bullying” by the United States, which, according to Caracas, aims to seize the oil reserves of the South American country.
President Nicolás Maduro sent a letter to the OPEC+ alliance, published by the executive vice president, Delcy Rodriguezregarding the second ministerial meeting 2025, in which he warns of the alleged American interest, through – as he said – “the use of lethal military force against the territory, the people and the institutions of the country.”
“This claim not only contradicts the provisions that govern peaceful coexistence between nations, but also puts the stability of oil production in serious danger Venezuela and the international market,” he added.
Furthermore, he trusted the efforts of the Secretary General of OPEC, Haitham Al Ghais, and the members of the OPEC+ alliance, to help stop what he pointed out as an “aggression that is brewing with increasing force” and, he warned, “seriously threatens the balance of the energy market, both for producing and consuming countries.”
Likewise, the Venezuelan Executive went before the ICAO to accuse the United States of violating its sovereignty, after President Donald Trump warned in a message that the airspace of the South American country should be considered “completely closed.”
In a statement, published and later deleted – without any explanation – from the social networks of the Minister of Transportation, Ramón Velásquez Araguayán, the Maduro Administration indicated that Trump surprisingly announced the “alleged closure of Venezuelan airspace, without having – he stated – the authority required for an announcement of this nature and without any legal basis.”
In addition, he reiterated that the National Aeronautical Institution (INAC) is the only entity authorized to regulate Venezuelan airspace. The operations of several airlines, such as Iberia, Plus Ultra, Air Europa, Avianca and Turkish Airlines, remain suspended, while Copa, Wingo, Boliviana de Aviación and Satena, as well as the local companies Avior and the state-owned Conviasa, maintain their flights in the South American nation for now.
The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petrofor its part, asked the ICAO to convene a meeting for what it called Trump’s “completely illegal” closure announcement. “No airline should accept illegal orders over the airspace of any country. I ask President Trump to return to respect for the international legal order, which is the accumulated wisdom of human civilization,” Petro published in X.