Maduro ‘ready to talk face to face’ as U.S. pressure mounts

Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro says he is open to face-to-face talks with representatives of the Trump administration as U.S. pressure on him intensifies.

Maduro’s comments came hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would not rule out deploying ground troops to the South American country.

The Trump administration accuses Maduro of being a leader of drug cartels, and Maduro’s re-election last year is seen by many countries as rigged.

Maduro denies the accusation and accuses the United States of trying to foment war to gain control of Venezuela’s oil reserves.

Since Trump was sworn in for re-election in January this year, the U.S. government has continued to increase pressure on Maduro.

The group doubled the reward for information leading to his capture to $US50 million ($38 million) and launched an anti-drug operation in August targeting ships it accused of transporting drugs from Venezuela to the United States.

Since then, U.S. attacks on suspicious ships have killed more than 80 people, mostly in the Caribbean and some in the Pacific.

U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said that the purpose of Operation Southern Spear was to eliminate “narco-terrorists” in the Western Hemisphere.

But legal experts have questioned the legality of the attacks, noting that the United States has provided no evidence that the ships were carrying drugs.

The scale of the U.S. military deployment – which includes the USS Gerald R. Ford, the U.S. Navy’s largest aircraft carrier – has also fueled speculation in Venezuela that its real purpose is to oust Maduro from power.

Trump has been repeatedly asked by reporters about his administration’s plans and has given seemingly contradictory answers.

On November 3, when CBS asked whether the United States would go to war with Venezuela, Trump said: “I don’t think so.”

But when asked on Sunday whether he ruled out the possibility of U.S. troops stationed in Venezuela, he responded: “No, I don’t rule it out, I don’t rule out anything.”

However, when asked if he would speak directly to Venezuela’s foreign minister, he said: “I would probably talk to him, yes.” “I talk to everybody,” Trump added.

Also on Sunday, the U.S. State Department said it “intends to designate the Cartel de los Soles, a Venezuelan drug gang allegedly led by Maduro,” as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO).

But the State Department stopped short of taking immediate action, instead saying the move would take effect on November 24.

This delay – combined with Trump opening the door to direct negotiations – has been interpreted by some as a U.S. ultimatum to Maduro: enter talks or face tougher U.S. measures.

Being labeled FTO means It will be illegal for U.S. citizens to knowingly provide material support or resources to relevant groups.

The White House said it has also become U.S. policy “to ensure the complete elimination of the presence of these organizations in the United States and their ability to threaten U.S. territory, safety, and security.”

Some analysts believe that just as the Trump administration has argued that it is legal to target suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean that pose a danger to U.S. citizens, the Trump administration could also use the FTO designation to support a crackdown on drug cartels on Venezuelan soil.

In several recent public appearances, Maduro has addressed the American people directly, even speaking and in one case singing in English.

On Monday, he said “dialogue, call for, yes, peace, yes, war, no, never, never war,” stressing that he was ready to talk “face to face” to anyone in the United States who “wants to talk to Venezuela.”

Past attempts by the parties to negotiate with representatives of the Maduro government have failed.

Negotiations brokered by Norway and held in Barbados between Venezuela’s opposition and Maduro’s government collapsed, following the collapse of Vatican-backed efforts to find a way out of Venezuela’s political crisis.

As the United States ramps up pressure on Maduro, Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Colina Machado has been trying to encourage the Venezuelan military to defect and turn against Maduro.

Machado, who spoke and posted from an undisclosed location in Venezuela where she has been hiding to evade arrest, has long denounced Maduro’s government as a “criminal structure” and called on Venezuelans to unite to overthrow it, directly calling on security forces to defect.

Tuesday, She uploaded to social media what she called a “liberal manifesto” outlining her vision for a post-Maduro Venezuela.

In it, she argued that “we stand on the edge of a new era – one in which our natural rights will prevail” and held Maduro and his close allies accountable for “crimes against humanity”, citing abuses of political prisoners and detainees under his rule.