Amid the tension caused by the naval fleet deployed by the Pentagon in the Caribbean, US President Donald Trump and his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro held a phone conversation in which they discussed a possible meeting in the United States, as revealed by the New York Times on Friday.
This call comes as Washington increases its pressure on Venezuela, with a large military deployment off its coast, which includes the largest aircraft carrier in the world. The Trump administration claims its goal is to stop drug trafficking from the South American country, but Caracas says the United States is seeking regime change.
According to the New York Times, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, one of Maduro’s staunchest opponents, also participated in the call.
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News of the call between Trump and Maduro comes a day after the US President announced that measures to stop Venezuelan drug trafficking by land were imminent, exacerbating tensions with Caracas.
calamity. Crossings between the United States and Venezuela have intensified in recent days, especially because of the possibility that supposed “ground operations” against Venezuelan drug trafficking groups could quickly bear fruit.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro denounced that his country had engaged in “17 weeks of psychological warfare” from the United States, and called on the armed forces to remain “calm” and “vigilant” in the face of the military deployment ordered by Donald Trump’s government in the Caribbean.
“I ask you to always be calm in your ranks, alert, ready and ready to defend our rights as a nation, as a free and sovereign homeland, and I know that you will never let Venezuela down, and I know that Venezuela is counting on you,” Maduro said at a military event, wearing an olive green suit and a red beret.
The South American president reiterated that Trump poses a “threat” to be removed from power, and ordered members of the Bolivarian Military Aviation (AMB) to be “on alert and ready” against the possibility of an attack on Venezuelan territory.
Maduro stressed that “nothing has ever broken the will” of Venezuela, neither “the blockade, nor the sanctions, nor this psychological warfare.” “There is no threat or aggression that frightens our people or surprises us,” the Chavista leader said.
This comes after Trump warned last Thursday that efforts to stop Venezuelan drug traffickers “on the ground” would begin “very soon.”
The US President made these statements during a video conference with US forces on the occasion of Thanksgiving. “In recent weeks, they have worked to deter Venezuelan drug traffickers, of which there are many,” the Republican president said while addressing an Air Force bombing unit based in Texas.
Since September, US forces have attacked more than 20 drug smuggling vessels in international waters, killing at least 83 people. Trump pointed out, “We have almost stopped drug smuggling, as 85% of it has been stopped by sea. We will also start stopping them by land. As for land, it is easier, but that will start very soon.”
Washington has strongly increased its pressure on Maduro, whom it accuses of leading the alleged Sun Cartel.