US President Donald Trump said on Monday he was willing to talk to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro but did not rule out the deployment of US troops to Venezuela.
“At a certain time, I will talk to him,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
However, when asked if he would rule out sending US troops to Venezuela, Trump said: “No, I don’t rule it out, I don’t rule out anything.”
“We just have to take care of Venezuela,” he said. “They threw millions of people out of prisons into our country.”
A few hours later, Maduro, speaking on his weekly television show, said he was ready to talk “face to face.”
Maduro said, “There will be peace in this country and in the United States, anyone who wants to talk to a Venezuelan will talk face to face without any problem.”
What is the relationship between Venezuela and America?
Over the past few months, the Trump administration has increased the deployment of US troops to the Caribbean under the pretext of fighting drug traffickers, whom it says are based in several Latin American countries, including Venezuela and Mexico.
US strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the past few months have resulted in several deaths.
Since September, the US military has killed at least 83 people through air strikes on boats accused of carrying drugs, according to an AFP tally of publicly released figures.
However, the US has provided no evidence to support its allegation that the people targeted in the attacks are drug traffickers.
The US has also accused Maduro of leading a “terrorist” drug cartel, a charge he denies.
Maduro, meanwhile, has repeatedly alleged that the US military buildup in the Caribbean is aimed at removing him from power.
Edited by: Zack Crellin