The US president has accused the government in Caracas of aiding \u201cnarcoterrorist\u201d drug cartels<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump has said he is open to negotiating with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to defuse tensions and the ongoing war scare between the countries.
\nTrump has accused Maduro of operating \u201cnarcoterrorist\u201d cartels, an allegation Maduro has denied.
\n\u201cWe may be having some discussions with Maduro, and we\u2019ll see how that turns out,\u201d Trump said on Sunday in Florida before boarding a flight to Washington. \u201cThey would like to talk,\u201d he added.
\nTrump also repeated his claim that the Venezuelan government has helped cartels smuggle drugs into the US and released \u201chundreds of thousands\u201d of violent criminals across the US border.
\nHe argued that the State Department\u2019s designation of Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization would allow the US to strike targets on Venezuelan soil. \u201cIt allows us to do that, but we haven\u2019t said we\u2019re going to do that,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Colombian leader labels Trump \u2018barbarian\u2019 over Caribbean strikes<\/p>\n
The US has conducted strikes on more than 20 alleged cartel vessels in international waters in the Caribbean since September and dispatched a naval armada to the region, including the USS Gerald R. Ford.\u00a0In August, Trump increased the bounty for Maduro\u2019s arrest to $50 million.
\nMaduro has denied the drug trafficking allegations and warned the US against launching \u201ca crazy war.\u201d
\n\u201cNo more endless wars. No more unjust wars. No more Libya. No more Afghanistan,\u201d Maduro told CNN\u2019s Stefano Pozzebon during a rally in Caracas on Thursday.
\nIn response to the US military buildup, Maduro has placed the army on high alert and initiated several drills.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The US president has accused the government in Caracas of aiding \u201cnarcoterrorist\u201d drug cartels US President Donald Trump has said he is open to negotiating with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22642,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t