Trump confirms phone call with Maduro and asked him: If he wants to save himself and his family, he must leave Venezuela immediately
The dictator rejected Trump's proposal, and Washington also dismissed the regime's demands, leaving the conversation unresolved.
Nicolas Maduro
President Donald Trump confirmed that he held a call with Nicolás Maduro late in the week of November 16, according to sources reporting in the Miami Herald and the New York Times. The message included: if the socialist leader wanted to guarantee his safety and that of his family, he should abandon Venezuela immediately. Trump himself avoided qualifying the conversation, limiting himself to pointing out that it was only "a phone call."
According to reports, the Trump administration offered Maduro, his wife and son a safe exit from the country, a proposal that sought to facilitate a political transition that Washington considers necessary to restore Venezuelan democracy. But the central condition - that the president leave power immediately - was rejected by the socialist leader.
Maduro's conditions that put the brakes on any agreement
According to the Miami Herald, Maduro requested demands that the United States considered unacceptable: a global amnesty for all crimes attributed to his government and allies, and the possibility of retaining control of the armed forces, a formula similar to that applied in Nicaragua during the 1991 transition.
Trump's team immediately dismissed both requests, and the call concluded without progress.
Trump increases pressure after call ends
The president also warned that military operations inside Venezuela could begin very soon, in reference to actions directed against drug trafficking networks that Washington links to the Chavista regime.
Trump, however, later clarified that his warning about airspace should not be interpreted as an announcement of imminent bombings. Regarding the conversation with Maduro, he limited himself to saying, "I wouldn't say it went well or badly, it was a phone call."
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