Maduro suggests Venezuela is open to talks on drug trafficking with the US despite military strikes

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said he is willing to negotiate an agreement to combat drug trafficking with the United States, in a pre-taped interview aired on Thursday on state-run television, but declined to comment on last week’s CIA strikes on a docking port.

Maduro reiterated that Washington wants to force a government change in Venezuela and gain access to his country’s vast oil reserves, through the months-long pressure campaign, which began with a major military deployment in the Caribbean Sea in August.

“What are they seeking? It is clear that they seek to impose themselves through threats, intimidation and force,” Maduro said, later adding that it is time for both nations to “start talking seriously, with data in hand.”

“The US government knows, because we’ve told many of their spokespeople, that if they want to seriously discuss an agreement to combat drug trafficking, we’re ready,” stressed Maduro.

“If they want oil, Venezuela is ready for US investment, like with Chevron, whenever they want it, wherever they want it and however they want it.”

Chevron is the only major oil company exporting Venezuelan crude to the United States. Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves.

The interview was taped on New Year’s Eve, the same day the US military announced strikes against five alleged drug-smuggling boats.

The latest attacks bring the total number of known boat strikes to 35 and the number of people killed to at least 115, according to numbers announced by the Trump administration. Venezuelans are among the victims of those strikes.

US President Donald Trump has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and asserted that Washington is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.

The strikes began off Venezuela’s Caribbean coast and later expanded to the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Meanwhile, the CIA was behind a drone strike last week at a docking area believed by the Trump administration to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels.

It was the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the boat strikes began, marking a significant escalation in Trump’s pressure campaign on Maduro, who has been charged with narco-terrorism in the US, and has a $50 million (€42.5 million) bounty for his capture.

Asked about the operation on Venezuelan soil, the Venezuela president declined to comment on the incident, but indicated that he could “talk about it in a few days.”