WASHINGTON: The United States has offered Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro the chance to leave his country for Russia or elsewhere, a Republican senator said Sunday, amid heightened fears of imminent US military action.
President Donald Trump sharply escalated his threats against Venezuela by warning Saturday that the country’s airspace should be considered “closed,” while the US military maintains a significant presence in the region.
Though Trump has not publicly threatened to use force against Maduro, he said in recent days that efforts to halt Venezuelan drug trafficking “by land” would begin “very soon.”
Maduro has said he views the US military presence in the Caribbean as a precursor to regime change.
“By the way, we gave Maduro an opportunity to leave. We said he could leave and go to Russia or he could go to another country,” Markwayne Mullin, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told CNN’s “State of the Union” talk show.
When asked whether Trump was planning to attack Venezuela, the senator from Oklahoma said: “No, he’s made it very clear we’re not going to put troops into Venezuela. What we’re trying to do is protect our own shores.”
Since September, US air strikes have targeted alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing at least 83 people.
Washington claims the leftist Maduro heads an alleged drug cartel.
Maduro “is an illegitimate leader who has been indicted for drug trafficking in US courts and maintains control of Venezuela by a reign of terror,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch Trump supporter, said Saturday on X.
“President Trump’s strong commitment to end this madness in Venezuela will save countless American lives and will give the beautiful people of Venezuela a new lease on life. I hear Turkiye and Iran are lovely this time of year...”
The steady US military buildup has seen the world’s largest aircraft carrier deployed to Caribbean waters, while American fighter jets and bombers have repeatedly flown off the Venezuelan coast in recent days.
The New York Times reported Friday that Trump and Maduro had discussed a possible meeting, while The Wall Street Journal said Saturday that the conversation also included conditions of amnesty if Maduro were to step down.
US gave Venezuela’s Maduro chance to leave country: senator
https://arab.news/93pdr
US gave Venezuela’s Maduro chance to leave country: senator
- Maduro was offered the chance to leave Venezuela for Russia or elsewhere amid heightened tensions with US
- Venezuelan president said he views the US military presence in the Caribbean as a precursor to regime change
Mexico’s Sheinbaum to hold a support rally following major protests
- Sheinbaum called for supporters to gather in the capital on the weekend in what analysts said was an attempt to demonstrate her support in the face of growing scrutiny
MEXICO CITY: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has organized a large rally in the country’s capital on Saturday to shore up her support following a month of political pushback and major protests.
The killing of Mayor Carlos Manzo in restive Michoacan state had sparked two days of demonstrations in November with protesters setting fire to public buildings.
Just weeks later, thousands marched through the streets of Mexico City to protest drug violence and the government’s security policies. That was followed by the abrupt departure of the country’s attorney general, Alejandro Gertz, in December over reported disagreements with Sheinbaum’s administration on crime policy.
Sheinbaum called for supporters to gather in the capital on the weekend in what analysts said was an attempt to demonstrate her support in the face of growing scrutiny.
“We close this 2025 with the historic celebration of seven years of transformation,” Sheinbaum said in a post on X.
Sheinbaum took office in 2024, following the six-year tenure of her predecessor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, with both leaders representing the left-wing Morena party.
“Let us together defend the people’s achievements ... in the Zocalo of Mexico City,” Sheinbaum added, referring to the capital’s main public square where weeks ago protesters criticizing her government’s security policies had clashed with police.
Though Sheinbaum has seen high approval ratings in her first year of power, they dipped slightly in recent months, easing from 74 percent in October to 71 percent at the start of December, according to the Polls MX survey summary.
- ‘Reshape the narrative’ -
Analysts told AFP the president not only faces scrutiny from her political opponents and members of the public, but from within her own party.
This gathering in the Zocalo, the country’s main square, is an “attempt at internal support, to reshape the narrative, to call for unity,” said political analyst Pablo Majluf.
Political columnist Hernan Gomez Bruera told AFP that Sheinbaum is “an incredibly efficient president” who likes to be in control and demands a lot from her team. But she is also “very thin-skinned” and “has difficulty dealing with dissent,” he added.
Despite a slight slip in poll numbers over the past few months, the leftist leader, who is Mexico’s first woman president, is still benefiting from a decline in poverty levels that began under her predecessor.
Sheinbaum has also won praise among her supporters for keeping at bay US President Donald Trump’s threats of high trade tariffs and military action on Mexican soil against drug cartels.
Sheinbaum met with Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Washington on Friday to discuss trade on the sidelines of the draw for the 2026 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by all three countries. She said on X following the meeting that the three nations maintain a “very good relationship.”
