Trump confirms call with Maduro after report of alleged regime-change ultimatum

President Donald Trump confirmed on Sunday that he recently spoke with Nicolas Maduro, the Venezuelan president whom the State Department recently identified as the leader of a foreign terrorist organization and for whom the U.S. is offering a $50 million bounty.

Trump would not elaborate on the nature or details of the call, which reportedly occurred last week. When asked whether it went well, Trump said, “I wouldn’t say it went well or badly. It was a phone call.”

‘That’s going to start very soon.’

Sources allegedly familiar with the exchange told the Miami Herald that the White House gave Maduro an ultimatum: “Safe passage would be guaranteed for him, his wife Cilia Flores, and his son only if he agreed to resign right away.”

The leadership in Caracas reportedly proposed in turn that Maduro surrender control to his political opposition but maintain control of the country’s military.

One source told the Herald that the call amounted to a last-ditch effort to stave off a direct confrontation.

“First, Maduro asked for global amnesty for any crimes he and his group had committed,” said the source. “Second, they asked to retain control of the armed forces — similar to what happened in Nicaragua in ’91 with Violeta Chamorro. In return, they would allow free elections.”

Washington rejected both proposals, and Caracas rejected, in turn, the demand that Maduro resign immediately, said the source.

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Photo by Gladjimi Balisage/US Navy via Getty Images

The White House did not respond to Blaze News’ request for comment.

An individual in regular contact with regime officials recently told the Wall Street Journal that Maduro and his cohort largely regard Washington’s threats as a bluff.

The skepticism in Caracas appears misplaced, given that the Trump administration has not only proven willing to blow away scores of alleged Venezuelan drug traffickers in the Caribbean Sea, incurring international and domestic condemnations in the process, but has amassed over a dozen warships and 15,000 troops in the region.

The Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group, which entered the Caribbean Sea last month, features the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, as well as over 70 aircraft, two Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, and an integrated air and missile defense command ship, the destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill, the Navy said.

The carrier strike group joined the two guided-missile destroyers that were already operating in the Caribbean along with a pair of guided-missile cruisers — the USS Lake Erie and the USS Gettysburg — and elements of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, which includes the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit.

The source in contact with regime officials told the Journal that Maduro figures the only way the U.S. can remove him from power is by sending troops to Caracas.

In his Thanksgiving Day address to U.S. troops, Trump lauded the efforts of the U.S. Air Force’s 7th Bomb Wing for its efforts to “deter Venezuelan drug traffickers” by sea and hinted at taking the fight ashore, stating, “We’ll be starting to stop them by land.”

“The land is easier,” said Trump. “But that’s going to start very soon.”

On Saturday, Trump said in a social media post, “To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.”

It appears that Caracas may now be taking the Trump administration more seriously.

Venezuela’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday, “Venezuela denounces and condemns the colonialist threat that seeks to affect the sovereignty of its airspace, constituting yet another extravagant, illegal, and unjustified aggression against the Venezuelan people.”

Citing sources familiar with the matter, CNN indicated that Trump will hold a meeting at the White House on Monday to discuss next steps on Venezuela.

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