#us-venezuela-relations

#us-venezuela-relations

President Donald Trump on Saturday said that the airspace "above and surrounding" Venezuela should be considered as "closed in its entirety," an assertion that raised more questions about the U.S. pressure on Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. His government accused Trump of making a "colonial threat" and seeking to undermine the South American country's sovereignty. The White House did not respond to questions about what Trump posted on his Truth Social platform,

U.S. President Donald Trump held a telephone conversation last week with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, The New York Times revealed on Friday. The call, seen as a gesture of rapprochement amid heightened hostilities between the two countries, included the possibility of a future meeting between the two leaders on U.S. soil; if so, it would mark a significant shift in relations between Washington and Caracas.

QUITO, Ecuador - The Trump administration will continue to identify and kill foreign drug smugglers without the consent of their home countries, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Thursday. But such actions may not be necessary if the smugglers come from friendly nations that cooperate with the United States, Rubio added. "For cooperative governments, there's no need because those governments are going to help us," the top U.S. diplomat said during a visit to Ecuador's capital. "They're going to help us find these people and blow them up, if that's what it takes."

The US attack on the Venezuelan boat on Tuesday came just a few days after news reports circulated about US warships advancing into Venezuelan waters. Last month, The New York Times reported that Trump had signed a secret directive instructing the Pentagon to use military force against certain Latin American drug cartels designated by the US as foreign terrorist organisations.