US president Donald Trump on Sunday confirmed that he had recently spoken with Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. The comment came at a time when the US has sent major military assets to the Caribbean, adding to its tense standoff with Caracas. Reports said the call touched on a possible meeting or even amnesty terms if Maduro agreed to step down. Trump refused to give details. “I wouldn’t say it went well or badly. It was a phone call,” he told reporters.The US government says its strikes target drug cartels, some of which it claims are linked to Maduro. Trump is also weighing possible strikes inside Venezuela. On Saturday, Trump said all airspace “above and surrounding” Venezuela should be considered “closed in its entirety”. Maduro’s government accused him of issuing a “colonial threat” and attacking Venezuela’s sovereignty.Venezuela’s foreign ministry said Trump’s comments were a “hostile, unilateral and arbitrary act”. It also said US authorities had halted deportation flights of Venezuelan migrants, though more than 13,000 had been returned this year after negotiations.
The US has carried out bomber flights near Venezuela and deployed the USS Gerald R Ford, adding to what officials describe as the largest US military presence in the region in decades. More than 80 people have been killed in US strikes on suspected drug-running boats since early September.Meanwhile, lawmakers from both parties said they support congressional reviews of US military strikes on boats suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific. This followed a Washington Post report claiming that defence secretary Pete Hegseth gave a verbal order to kill all crew members during a 2 September strike. Members of Congress said they did not know if the report was correct. Some Republicans expressed doubts, but agreed that attacking survivors of an initial strike raises serious legal concerns. “This rises to the level of a war crime if it’s true,” said Democratic Senator Tim Kaine.
