Venezuela’s Maduro Sent a Letter to Trump to Have Talks
For his part, US President Donald Trump was questioned this Sunday morning about the letter Nicolás Maduro sent him two weeks ago.
The Nicolás Maduro regime apparently isn’t holding up to the pressure and has sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to engage in direct talks following the military deployment in the Caribbean. According to several news agencies, the letter was sent days after the first US attack on a boat from Venezuela that, according to Trump, was carrying drug traffickers from the Aragua Train. Maduro rejected the U.S. administration’s claims that Venezuela played a significant role in drug trafficking, arguing that only 5% of the drugs produced in Colombia are transported through Venezuelan territory, and that 70% of them have been neutralized and destroyed by Venezuelan authorities, he asserted.
“President, I hope that together we can defeat the falsehoods that have tarnished our relationship, which must be historic and peaceful,” Maduro wrote in the document. “These and other issues will always be open to direct and frank conversation with your special envoy (Richard Grenell) to overcome the media noise and fake news,” he emphasized. The letter was dated September 6, two days after the U.S. government attacked a vessel allegedly belonging to the Tren de Aragua drug trafficking gang. The attack resulted in the deaths of 11 alleged drug traffickers, according to Trump.
For his part, US President Donald Trump was questioned Sunday morning about the letter Nicolás Maduro sent him two weeks ago. “Do you have the letter yet, and what will your response be?” a reporter asked Trump after providing context on Maduro’s intention to engage in dialogue with his country amid rising tensions over the military withdrawal from the Caribbean. “I don’t want to say that. We’ll see what happens with Venezuela. I don’t want to say anything else,” Trump responded, avoiding direct reference to the request for direct talks.
The leader of the Venezuelan regime also stated that Washington’s special envoy to Caracas, Richard Grenell, played an important role in previous agreements such as the deportation of Venezuelan migrants. Maduro has repeatedly claimed that the United States hopes to remove him from power, but Trump denied this week that he is interested in regime change. Weeks ago, the bounty on Maduro’s head was doubled to $50 million, accusing him of links to drug trafficking and criminal groups.
