Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro said Thursday he is willing to talk with the United States about drug trafficking and oil after weeks of pressure on his government.
In an interview with Venezuelan state television, Maduro said he was ready to talk to the United States “wherever and whenever it wants.”
He also dodged questions about President Donald Trump’s comments that the United States had attacked a docking facility in Venezuela. This was the first attack carried out by the CIA in Venezuela.
For the past three months, U.S. forces have been targeting ships suspected of smuggling drugs through the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
In total, there have been more than 30 attacks on ships as part of the Trump administration’s ‘war on drugs’, with more than 110 people killed since the United States launched its first attack on a ship in international waters on September 2.
According to the U.S. military, the attack occurred last Wednesday when two boats believed to be transporting drugs were attacked, killing five people on board.
On Monday, President Trump said the United States had struck a “dock area” linked to alleged Venezuelan drug boats, causing a “big explosion.”
CNN and the New York Times, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported that the explosion was caused by a CIA drone strike. If confirmed, this would be the first known incident of U.S. operations in Venezuela.
But Maduro did not stand out in the interview. Asked if he could confirm or deny the attack, Maduro said: “This could be something we can talk about in a few days.”
Maduro said he was willing to talk about oil and immigration, as well as drug trafficking.
In recent months, Trump has focused on stopping the flow of drugs, particularly fentanyl and cocaine, into the United States.
The U.S. president also announced he would double the reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest and designate Maduro’s government a foreign terrorist organization (FTO).
Maduro has strongly denied being a cartel leader and has accused the United States of using the “war on drugs” as an excuse to oust him and take control of Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
Counter-drug experts say Venezuela plays a relatively small role in global drug trafficking, acting as a transit country for drugs produced elsewhere.
Neighboring Colombia is the world’s largest producer of cocaine, but most of it is thought to enter the United States through routes other than Venezuela.
Without providing evidence, Trump accused Maduro of “emptying prisons and mental hospitals” and “forcing” prisoners to move to the United States.
It is estimated that nearly 8 million Venezuelans have headed to the United States since 2013 to escape the country’s economic crisis and repression.
The United States has also been cracking down on sanctioned oil tankers traveling to and from Venezuela.
The U.S. military seized an oil tanker in Venezuela on December 10 because it was “used to transport oil subject to sanctions from Venezuela and Iran.” Venezuela defined this as an act of ‘international piracy.’
Afterwards, the United States captured one more oil tanker and pursued a third.
The Trump administration has deemed the operation against the alleged drug boats a non-international armed conflict against alleged human traffickers, but legal experts say the actions may violate laws governing such conflicts.
The United States has provided no evidence that the ships targeted were carrying drugs. But U.S. Southern Command again claimed this week that “intelligence officials have confirmed that the vessels are traveling along known drug trafficking routes and are engaging in drug trafficking.”
