Venezuela’s dictator Nicolás Maduro avoided confirming or denying an alleged US attack on a drug trafficking hub in Venezuela during an interview on Thursday (1).
Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump said his country’s forces had destroyed a dock area for ships believed to be used to transport drugs to Venezuela. This would be Washington’s first attack on Venezuelan territory.
“This could be a topic of conversation in a few days,” Maduro said. The head of the regime also said he was open to dialogue with Washington.
The United States sent a military flotilla to the Caribbean in August and has already bombed nearly 30 ships, killing more than a hundred people. Caracas claims that these maneuvers aim to overthrow the Venezuelan regime.
Trump warned in November that he would launch ground attacks in Venezuela and authorized CIA operations in the South American country.
“What I can tell you is that the national defensive system has guaranteed and guarantees territorial integrity, peace in the country and the use and enjoyment of all our territories. Our people are safe and at peace. I can tell you something about that,” Maduro said in the interview.
Given the lack of details on the location of the operation from the United States, speculation on social media suggests that a fire in warehouses in Maracaibo (west) belonging to Primazol, a company in the chemical sector, could be linked to the attack.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro fueled rumors by saying that “Trump had bombed a factory in Maracaibo” in which, according to him, “coca paste is mixed to make cocaine.”
“President Petro, not here, we do not package or manufacture any type of narcotics,” replied the company’s director, Eduardo Siu.
Maduro reiterated his willingness to engage with the United States, after confirming that he had not spoken to Trump since a November 21 phone call, which he considered “cordial and respectful.”
The details of that call have not been revealed by either party, but Trump has since stepped up the pressure by unofficially closing Venezuela’s airspace, imposing more sanctions and ordering the seizure of sanctioned ships carrying Venezuelan oil.
“I think the conversation was pleasant, but the developments following the conversation were not pleasant. Let’s wait,” he commented.
Maduro confirmed his desire to conclude agreements with the United States, particularly in the areas of oil, migration and the fight against drug trafficking.
“If (the United States) wants to talk seriously about an agreement to fight drug trafficking, we are ready,” he said, before proposing an oil pact “for American investments, like with Chevron.” “Where they want and how they want,” he said.
He also proposed the resumption of an agreement for the expulsion of undocumented Venezuelans on direct flights from the United States to Venezuela, which Maduro said was unilaterally canceled by Washington three weeks ago.
“They talk about the issue of migration, but they are the ones who suspended the agreement on migration,” he said. “If ever there is rationality and diplomacy, this could perfectly be discussed.”
Hours before the interview, the Ministry of Prison Service announced the release of 88 people detained during the protests that took place after Nicolás Maduro declared himself the winner in the 2024 elections, which the opposition denounced as fraudulent and in which it claimed the victory of its candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia.
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