MADRID: Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has extended an olive branch to US President Donald Trump, proposing serious talks on combating drug trafficking and offering US companies ready access to Venezuelan oil.
Maduro said Venezuela was a “brother country” to the United States and a friendly government. He noted that when he and Trump last spoke in November, the US president had acknowledged his authority by addressing him as “Mr. President.”
The longtime Venezuelan strongman spoke in an interview that was filmed on New Year’s Eve and aired on Venezuelan state TV on the evening of New Year’s Day.
In the broadcast, Maduro and his interviewer walk through a militarized zone of the capital Caracas. Later, Maduro takes the wheel of a car with the journalist in the passenger seat and the president’s wife, Cilia Flores, in the back — a gesture commentators interpreted as an attempt to project confidence amid fears of a US strike, despite Maduro’s scaling back of public appearances in recent weeks.
The comments represent a shift in Maduro’s tone toward the United States since the latter launched a large-scale military buildup in the southern Caribbean. Trump has accused the “illegitimate” Maduro of running a narco-state and threatened to remove him from power.
Maduro has vehemently denied links to crime and says that the US is seeking to oust him to take control of Venezuela’s vast oil reserves and rare earth mineral deposits.
At an event shortly before Christmas, Maduro urged Trump to focus on domestic challenges, saying: “Honestly, if I speak with him again, I will tell him that each one should attend to their internal affairs.”
In the latest remarks, Maduro told his interviewer: “To the people of the United States I say what I have always said, Venezuela is a brother country... a friendly government.
“We must start to speak seriously, with the facts in hand. The US government knows that, because we have said it a lot to their interlocutors, that if they want to speak seriously about the agreement to battle drug trafficking, we are ready to do that. If they want Venezuela’s oil, Venezuela is ready to accept US investments like those of Chevron, when, where and how they want to make them.”
![]()
Venezuela’s Maduro holds out olive branch to US, suggests serious talks
Short Url
https://arab.news/zww2j
Venezuela’s Maduro holds out olive branch to US, suggests serious talks
- The comments represent a shift in Maduro’s tone toward the United States since the latter launched a large-scale military buildup in the southern Caribbean
Canada’s Carney hails ‘strategic partnership’ in talks with Xi
BEIJING: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Chinese President Xi Jinping began talks in Beijing on Friday, marking the first meeting between the countries’ leaders in China’s capital in eight years.
Carney lauded a “new strategic partnership” between the two countries after he arrived for the talks at the Great Hall of the People.
Following President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariffs on Canadian products, Carney has sought to reduce his country’s economic reliance on its main market, the United States.
Carney told Xi that “together, we can build the best of what this relationship has been in the past to create a new one.”
“Agriculture, energy, finance, that’s where we can make the most immediate progress,” he added.
Xi welcomed Carney and his delegation, saying that China-Canada relations were at a turning point after their last meeting at an APAC summit in October.
“It can be said that our meeting last year opened a new chapter in turning China-Canada relations toward improvement,” Xi told Carney.
“The healthy and stable development of China-Canada relations serves the common interests of our two countries,” he said, adding he was “glad” to see discussions over the last few months to restore cooperation.
Officials from both countries have been in talks to lower tariffs, but an agreement has yet to be reached.
Carney, who on Thursday met with Premier Li Qiang, is also scheduled to hold talks with business leaders to discuss trade.
Carney lauded a “new strategic partnership” between the two countries after he arrived for the talks at the Great Hall of the People.
Following President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariffs on Canadian products, Carney has sought to reduce his country’s economic reliance on its main market, the United States.
Carney told Xi that “together, we can build the best of what this relationship has been in the past to create a new one.”
“Agriculture, energy, finance, that’s where we can make the most immediate progress,” he added.
Xi welcomed Carney and his delegation, saying that China-Canada relations were at a turning point after their last meeting at an APAC summit in October.
“It can be said that our meeting last year opened a new chapter in turning China-Canada relations toward improvement,” Xi told Carney.
“The healthy and stable development of China-Canada relations serves the common interests of our two countries,” he said, adding he was “glad” to see discussions over the last few months to restore cooperation.
Officials from both countries have been in talks to lower tariffs, but an agreement has yet to be reached.
Carney, who on Thursday met with Premier Li Qiang, is also scheduled to hold talks with business leaders to discuss trade.
Latest updates
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.