The White House reportedly ordered Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro to step down immediately during a 21 November phone call, but the Venezuelan leader rejected President Donald Trump’s ultimatum and instead demanded sweeping legal immunity for himself and his inner circle.
Trump later confirmed the call, saying only that “it was a phone call,” as both Washington and Caracas declined to release further details about the unusually direct exchange.
Sources told the Miami Herald the US president delivered a “blunt message” to Maduro, who has been the target of a four-month pressure campaign that includes a major naval deployment off Venezuela’s northern coast. Trump reportedly offered safe passage for Maduro, his wife and his son only if he agreed to resign at once.
Maduro, however, reportedly rejected the demand. According to the Herald, he asked for “global amnesty”, insisted on immunity from prosecution and sought to give up formal political power while keeping control of the armed forces.
The report stated that there has been no direct contact between the two leaders since, despite Maduro requesting a second call after Trump declared Venezuelan airspace “closed in its entirety”. “The Maduro government received no response,” the paper reported, saying Brazil, Qatar and Turkey helped arrange the first call.
Despite claims that Trump issued an ultimatum for Venezuela’s Maduro, some analysts doubt Washington will follow through with large-scale military action. A source familiar with senior Venezuelan officials told the Wall Street Journal: “Maduro and most of his cohorts view the US military threats as a bluff.”
Since taking office in 2013, Maduro has weathered mass protests, severe economic collapse, a drone assassination attempt, Trump’s first-term “maximum pressure” campaign and widespread belief that he lost last year’s presidential election to Edmundo González.
On Sunday, the Wall Street Journal urged the Trump administration to intensify pressure, arguing that “deposing Maduro is in the US national interest”. Its editorial board warned that if Maduro refuses to leave and Trump does not act, “Trump and the credibility of the US will be the losers.”
Seeking a diplomatic route, Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, offered Cartagena as a venue for talks between Maduro’s government and Venezuela’s opposition.
In a separate letter published by state media, Maduro accused the US of trying to “appropriate Venezuela’s vast oil reserves, the largest on the planet through the lethal use of military force.”
(The Guardian UK)
