The President of the United States, Donald Trump, spoke by telephone with his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolás Maduro, to agree on a possible meeting between them, the newspaper reported this Friday, November 28 The New York Times.
The call, last week, included the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and did not result in concrete plans for the meeting, added the New York newspaper citing anonymous sources, without further details about what was discussed between the two leaders.
The conversation took place “days before” the State Department designated the so-called Cartel of the Suns, associated with the leadership of the Venezuelan regime, as terrorists on Monday, which rejects the connection.
Neither the United States nor the Venezuelan Government have so far commented on the news about the alleged call, although they have not denied it either.
The conversation comes one day after Trump’s warning that the Armed Forces “will very soon begin” to detain “Venezuela drug traffickers” on land, following operations at sea, in which they bombed more than 20 boats and killed more than 80 people.
“We’re going to start stopping them on land. Besides, it’s easier on land, but that’s going to start very soon. We’ve warned them to stop sending poison into our country,” Trump said in a Thanksgiving Day call with military personnel.
Despite this warning, Trump indicated on Tuesday that he “could speak [com Maduro] to save many lives.”
A conversation that for Caracas, according to the Venezuelan attorney general, Tarek William Saab, would be “welcome”.
The announcement of discussions with Maduro comes after reports in the North American press in October about alleged negotiations that the Government of Venezuela sought with the Trump administration.
The Miami Herald reported that Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez proposed that Washington lead a transitional government without Maduro.
The New York Times stated that Caracas offered Washington to open up the exploration of its oil and gold to North American companies and redirect its fuel exports from China to North America.
Tension has been growing between Venezuela and the United States, which since November 16 has positioned the USS Gerald R. Ford, its largest aircraft carrier, in the Caribbean, and on Monday carried out attack demonstrations with its B-52H bomber planes.