The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, has opted for calculated ambiguity when responding to the noise coming from Washington and, in an interview with the Spanish intellectual Ignacio Ramonet broadcast on the state channel VTVthe president has neither confirmed nor denied a . He has only limited himself to claiming the solidity of the country’s defensive apparatus: “The national defensive system that combines the popular, military, and police force, has guaranteed and guarantees the territorial integrity, the peace of the country and the use and enjoyment of all our territories,” he assured, before slipping again that he may be able to talk about the matter “in a few days.”
Last Friday, US President Donald Trump announced that his army had completed a ground attack against a “large facility” linked to the drug trafficking network supposedly led by the Venezuelan government leadership, although without specifying whether the operation would have occurred within the Venezuelan border. Everything that the American press has published has not completely cleared up the mystery either. According to The New York Timesthe CIA would have carried out a drone attack against a port facility in Venezuela. All while rumors circulated on social networks about the possible bombing of a chemical company located in the state of Zulia, a version that the company itself, Primazol, denied in a statement.
In this scenario of crossed versions, Maduro has corrected Donald Trump on another matter: the second conversation they recently had on the phone. On this issue, the Venezuelan president has insisted that and that it was in November. “We have had only one conversation. He called me on Friday, November 21 from the White House. And I was at the Miraflores Palace,” he said. According to his version, it was a ten-minute exchange that was “very respectful” and “even pleasant.”
Despite this context, Maduro has wanted to leave the door open to negotiations with the United States and has shown himself willing for his government to speak “seriously” with the US government, whether about drug trafficking or energy. “If they want to seriously talk about an agreement to combat drug trafficking, we are ready. If they want oil from Venezuela, Venezuela is ready for American investments like with Chevron, whenever they want, where they want and how they want,” he stated, before adding that he would also accept “comprehensive” economic development agreements.
The Venezuelan president has also taken advantage of the interview to reinforce his own story in the fight against drug trafficking and shift responsibilities abroad. He has defended that Venezuela is a “victim” and that “all the cocaine that moves in this region is produced in Colombia.” “We have a tremendous fight on the border,” he stressed, while regretting the lack of collaboration from the other side. In this framework, he has boasted of a “perfect model for combating drug trafficking” and has assured that the Venezuelan authorities have already shot down 431 aircraft linked to these networks. A few words that come after the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, has pointed out that the facilities supposedly attacked in Venezuela were a cocaine factory belonging to the ELN guerrilla.
Beyond the political and military struggle with the United States, Maduro has wanted to project an image of economic strength and has assured that Venezuela leads the economic growth of Latin America and the Caribbean for the second consecutive year, with an increase that has amounted to almost 9%. “For the second consecutive year we lead from besieged, threatened Venezuela, we lead the economic growth of all of Latin America and the Caribbean. It is the great news,” he said, before highlighting that the country has accumulated “20 continuous quarters” of growth and that trade has increased by 34%. The president has once again insisted on the need, precisely after the US announced the blockade of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving the country.
88 more political prisoners released
While the president of Venezuela launched this message of normality on state television, another plane of reality made its way, when the relatives of those detained after the 2024 presidential elections reported the release, on New Year’s Eve, of dozens of prisoners. The Committee of Mothers in Defense of the Truth spoke of the “limited freedom” of some 87 people held in the Tocorón prison. “This achievement, which fills us with joy, is, however, insufficient,” warned a group that has once again demanded full freedom for all political prisoners.
The Government later confirmed 88 releases with “precautionary measures”, after a “comprehensive review” of the cases, and defended that these people were imprisoned for “violent actions” after the elections of July 28, 2024, in which Maduro proclaimed himself re-elected amid complaints of fraud by the opposition, which claims the victory of Edmundo González Urrutia. NGOs such as the Penal Forum, the Venezuelan Observatory of Prisons and Justice or Encuentro y Perdón have demanded that releases from prison not occur “in dribs and drabs” while they verify the number of those released.
