Reuters news agency, citing informed sources, reported that Donald Trump had asked Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan President, to leave the country within a week in a phone call on November 20th.
This deadline expired on Friday, November 28th, and one day later, Trump announced that the airspace over Venezuela should be considered closed. He later explained that this comment should not be taken as a sign of a possible US military attack on Venezuelan soil.
According to Reuters, the conversation between Trump and Maduro lasted 15 minutes, during which the US President asked his Venezuelan counterpart to leave the country with his family members and go wherever he wished.
Based on the report, Maduro stated that he would leave his country only on the condition that he and his family members be granted full legal immunity. This immunity would include the lifting of all US sanctions and the termination of the case against him at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
He also demanded the lifting of US sanctions against 100 Venezuelan officials. Maduro insisted that until elections are held in Venezuela, the government should be run by his vice president, Delcy Rodríguez.
According to the sources, Trump rejected “most” of Maduro’s demands. Reuters reported that discussions regarding Maduro’s departure from Venezuela may continue.
On November 30th, Donald Trump confirmed that he had a phone call with Nicolás Maduro.
The US has accused Venezuela of not taking sufficient action to confront drug trafficking. Due to this, the United States has dispatched a large number of forces to the Caribbean region.
According to US media reports, a group of US warships, including the USS Gerald R. Ford, a nuclear submarine, and more than 16,000 US troops have been deployed to the Caribbean.
Since September, the US has destroyed at least 20 boats suspected of drug trafficking and killed 80 people.
US media have repeatedly reported that the country may soon target Venezuela with an attack. On November 27th, Trump said that Washington would soon begin fighting drug trafficking from Venezuela “by land.” However, he did not provide further details.
