Nicolás Maduro says he is willing to talk 'face-to-face' with Trump
by Macarena Hermosilla · UPINov. 18 (UPI) -- After President Donald Trump said he was open to a conversation with Venezuela's president, Nicolás Maduro said he is willing to hold a "face-to-face" meeting with anyone who wants to talk.
On his weekly program "Con Maduro+," broadcast on the state-run Venezolana de Televisión, Maduro said Monday night that "this country is at peace, this country will remain at peace. And in the United States, whoever wants to talk with Venezuela will talk face-to-face, without any problem."
Amid heightened tensions over the presence of U.S. military forces in Caribbean waters near Venezuelan territory, Maduro added, "Anyone who wants dialogue will always find in us people of our word, decent people and people with the experience to lead Venezuela."
He stressed that "what cannot be allowed is the bombing and massacre of a Christian people, the Christian people of Venezuela," rejecting any action that could be interpreted as direct aggression.
Maduro said that over the past 16 weeks, Venezuela has faced a period of "threats and psychological aggression" that "have awakened a revitalized Bolivarian National Armed Force, now deployed. An expanded, better-trained Bolivarian militia and a people who calmly carry out their plans and support their military."
Amid U.S. bombings in the Caribbean and the Pacific against boats that Washington says are carrying drugs, Trump was asked Monday during a White House press conference about the possibility of speaking with Maduro.
"At a certain period of time, I'll be talking to him," Trump said. He added that Maduro "has not been good to the United States."
He also addressed the possibility of deploying troops to Venezuela.
"No, I don't rule out that. I don't rule out anything. We just have to take care of Venezuela. They dumped hundreds of thousands of people into our country from prisons," Trump said.
These statements came after an announcement by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said the State Department "intends to designate Cartel de los Soles as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, effective Nov. 24, 2025."
Rubio said the group is "headed by Nicolás Maduro and other high-ranking individuals of the illegitimate Maduro regime, who have corrupted Venezuela's military, intelligence, legislature and judiciary."
He added that this criminal organization, acting in coordination with already designated terrorist organizations, is "responsible for terrorist violence throughout our hemisphere, as well as for trafficking drugs into the United States and Europe."
Venezuelan leader María Corina Machado released a message Tuesday on her X account titled "Manifesto of Freedom," in which she detailed the key steps for Venezuela to overcome Nicolás Maduro's dictatorship.
Machado highlighted issues such as economic freedom, freedom of expression, the right to vote, security and democracy, and said she is confident that change is coming soon for Venezuela.
"We are on the threshold of a new era, one in which our natural rights will prevail. The long and violent abuse of power by this regime is coming to an end," Machado said in a video posted on her social media account.
"No regime, political system or tyranny has the power to take from us what is divinely ours: the right to live with dignity, speak freely, create, dream and prosper as individuals," she added.