Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has said he is willing to hold face-to-face talks with the Trump administration, hours after President Trump refused to rule out deploying US ground troops to Venezuela.
The US has intensified pressure since Trump began his second term, doubling its reward for Maduro’s capture to $50 million and launching Operation Southern Spear, a widescale counternarcotics campaign that has killed more than 80 people in strikes on suspected drug-running vessels.
Washington accuses Maduro whose disputed re-election was widely dismissed as rigged of leading the Cartel de los Soles, which the US plans to designate a Foreign Terrorist Organisation on 24 November.
Maduro denies all allegations, accusing the US of seeking control of Venezuela’s oil and trying to provoke a war. Legal experts have questioned the legitimacy of the US strikes, noting limited evidence and unclear impact on drug flows. The deployment of major US military assets, including the aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford, has fuelled speculation that Washington may be preparing for regime change.
