Venezuela open to talks on drug trafficking, says Maduro, but refuses to comment on reported US strike on land | Venezuela
Venezuela is open to negotiating a deal with the United States to fight drug trafficking, the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, said but declined to comment on the CIA-led attack on a Venezuelan port area that Donald Trump claims is used by cartels.
In a pre-recorded interview with Spanish journalist Ignacio Ramonet, Maduro reiterated his belief that the United States wants to force a change of government in Venezuela and gain access to its vast oil reserves through a months-long pressure campaign that began with a massive military deployment to the Caribbean Sea in August.
“What are they looking for? It is clear that they are trying to impose themselves through threats, intimidation and force,” Maduro said, later adding that it was time for both countries to “start talking seriously with the data at hand.”
The Trump administration accused Maduro of heading a drug cartel and said it was cracking down on trafficking, but he denied the accusations.
“The US government knows because we have told many of their spokespeople that we are ready if they want to seriously discuss an agreement to combat drug trafficking,” he said. “If they want oil, Venezuela is ready for U.S. investment, as in Chevron, whenever, wherever and however they want it.”
Chevron is the only major oil company to export Venezuelan crude oil to the United States. Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves.
In the interview, Maduro refused to confirm whether the United States had carried out an attack in Venezuela after Trump said Monday that the United States struck a docking facility serving Venezuelan drug-smuggling boats last month.
Asked openly about the attack, Maduro said: “This may be something we will talk about in a few days.”
US media, including the Associated Press, reported that the CIA was behind the attack using a drone.
If confirmed, the first strike on land would mark a new phase in the campaign, which since August has included the deployment of a massive US naval fleet, air strikes on alleged drug smugglers and a “total blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers, seizing two ships and pursuing a third.
Maduro said he had not spoken to Trump since their meeting on November 12, which he described as cordial and respectful.
“I think this conversation was pleasant, but the developments since then have not been pleasant at all. Let’s wait,” he said.
The interview was recorded on New Year’s Eve, the day the US military announced an attack on five boats allegedly involved in drug smuggling. The latest attacks bring the total number of known boat attacks to 35 and the death toll to at least 115, according to figures released by the Trump administration. Among the victims are Venezuelans.
Trump justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stop the flow of drugs into the United States and claimed the United States was engaged in a “gunfight” with drug cartels. The attacks began off the Caribbean coast of Venezuela and later expanded into the eastern Pacific Ocean.
With Associated Press and France-Presse Agency
