Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said on Thursday he was open to working with Washington as US President Donald Trump said on Monday the United States had “hit” a dock in Venezuela where drugs were allegedly being loaded onto boats.
“Wherever they want and whenever they want,” Maduro, quoted by AFP, said of the idea of dialogue with the US on the drug trade, oil and migration in an interview on state television.
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Maduro has not yet confirmed a US ground attack on a docking facility in his country that allegedly targeted drug boats, according to comments from US President Donald Trump on Monday.
Asked directly whether he confirmed or denied the attack, Maduro dodged the question, saying, “It could be something we’ll talk about in a few days.”
According to the Associated Press, in an interview with Spanish journalist Ignacio Ramonet, Maduro reiterated that the US wants to force a change of government in Venezuela.
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He claimed the US wanted to gain access to Venezuela’s vast oil reserves through a months-long pressure campaign that began with a massive military deployment in the Caribbean Sea in August.
“What are they looking for? It is clear that they are trying to get their way through threats, intimidation and force,” Maduro said, later adding that it was time for the two nations to “start talking seriously, with data in hand.”
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“The U.S. government knows, because we’ve told many of their spokespeople, that if they want to seriously discuss an anti-drug deal, we’re ready,” he reportedly said.
“If they want oil, Venezuela is ready for American investment, as is Chevron, whenever they want it, wherever they want it, however they want it.”
US military strikes
On Monday, Trump said the US had struck and destroyed a docking area for alleged Venezuelan drug ships. The attack would amount to the first known ground strike of the US military’s campaign against drug trafficking from Latin America.
Trump would not say whether it was a military or CIA operation or where the attack occurred, only noting that it was “along the coast.”
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“There was a big explosion in the dock area where they load the drugs onto the ships,” he told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
“So we hit all the ships and now we hit the area, it’s the implementation area, that’s where they implement. And it’s not here anymore.”
Later, the U.S. military said Wednesday it had struck five boats of alleged drug smugglers over two days, killing a total of eight people, while others jumped overboard and may have survived.
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The US Southern Command, which oversees South America, did not release the locations of the attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday. Previous attacks were in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean.
For weeks, Trump has threatened ground strikes against drug cartels in the region, saying they would begin “soon,” but this is the first overt example.
US forces have also launched numerous attacks on boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific since September, targeting what Washington says are drug smugglers.
The administration provided no evidence that the targeted ships were involved in drug trafficking; however, this has sparked debate about the legality of these operations.
(With input from agencies)
