Maduro says Venezuela open to US negotiations on drug trafficking

Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro said Thursday he was open to negotiations with the United States on drug trafficking and oil, after weeks of a growing pressure campaign against his government.

In an interview with Venezuelan state television, Maduro said he was ready to engage with the United States “wherever they want and whenever they want.”

He also dodged a question about a statement by President Donald Trump that the United States struck a docking facility in Venezuela — the first such attack inside the country allegedly carried out by the CIA.

Over the past three months, U.S. forces have attacked ships suspected of narcotics trafficking across the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.

In total, more than 30 strikes against ships have taken place as part of the Trump administration’s “war on drugs,” with more than 110 deaths since the United States carried out its first attack on a ship in international waters on September 2.

The latest attack took place on Wednesday when two boats believed to be carrying drugs were struck, killing five people on board, according to the US military.

On Monday, Trump said that The United States carried out a strike on a “port area” linked to alleged Venezuelan drug boats, causing “major explosion”.

The explosion was caused by a drone strike carried out by the CIA, according to CNN and the New York Times, citing sources familiar with the matter. If confirmed, it would be the first known U.S. operation in Venezuela.

But Maduro remained elusive during the interview. When asked if he could confirm or deny the attack, Maduro replied that “it could be something we talk about in a few days.”

Besides drug trafficking, Maduro has also said he is open to negotiations on oil and migration.

In recent months, Trump has focused on combating the influx of drugs – including fentanyl and cocaine – into the United States.

The US president also doubled the reward for information leading to Maduro’s capture and announced he would designate Maduro’s government as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO).

Maduro has vehemently denied being a cartel leader and accused the United States of using its “war on drugs” as a pretext to try to remove him and get its hands on Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.

Counternarcotics experts say Venezuela is a relatively minor player in the global drug trade, acting as a transit country through which drugs produced elsewhere are smuggled.

Its neighbor, Colombia, is the world’s largest producer of cocaine, but most of that cocaine is believed to enter the United States by other routes, not through Venezuela.

Without providing evidence, Trump accused Maduro of “emptying his prisons and insane asylums” and “forcing” his inmates to emigrate to the United States.

Nearly eight million Venezuelans are estimated to have fled the country’s economic crisis and repression since 2013, with some heading to the United States.

The United States also cracked down sanctioned oil tankers enter and exit Venezuela.

US forces seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela on December 10, saying it was “used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.” Venezuela called it an act of “international piracy.”

Since then, the United States has seized one additional tanker and pursued a third.

The Trump administration has called its operations against suspected drug boats a non-international armed conflict against suspected traffickers, but legal experts say they could violate laws governing such conflict.

The United States has provided no evidence that the boats it targeted were carrying drugs. But U.S. Southern Command again insisted this week that “intelligence confirmed that the vessels were transiting known drug trafficking routes and were engaged in drug trafficking.”