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Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said Thursday his government was willing to negotiate a deal with the United States after months of U.S. military pressure targeting drug trafficking networks linked to his government.
In a pre-recorded interview with Spanish journalist Ignacio Ramonet, broadcast on state television, Maduro said Venezuela was “ready” to discuss a drug trafficking deal with the United States. He called on countries to “start talking seriously, with data in hand.”
“The U.S. government knows, because we have told several of its spokespeople, that if it wants to seriously discuss an agreement to combat drug trafficking, we are ready,” he said. “If they want oil, Venezuela is ready to welcome American investments, like with Chevron, when they want it, where they want it and how they want it.”
Chevron Corp. is the only major U.S. oil company currently exporting Venezuelan crude to the United States.
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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro attends a meeting at the National Assembly in Caracas, August 22, 2025. (Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images)
Maduro said the United States wanted regime change in Venezuela and access to its oil reserves through a months-long pressure campaign that began with a major military deployment in the Caribbean Sea. in August.
He said it was clear that the United States wanted to “impose itself by threat, intimidation and force.”
The interview was recorded on New Year’s Eve, the same day the U.S. military announced a kinetic strike that killed five people aboard two ships operated by designated terrorist organizations involved in narcotics trafficking.
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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro participated in a rally in Caracas on December 10. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernández)
At least 114 people have been killed since the United States began bombing suspected drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific in early September.
The United States could signal a possible expansion of its Venezuela-focused campaign, including possible ground operations.
President Donald Trump confirmed that a strike last week targeted what he described as a Venezuelan port used for drug trafficking, but declined to say whether the operation was carried out by the U.S. military or another entity, such as the CIA.
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USSOUTHCOM announced another kinetic strike against suspected naro-terrorist vessels on Wednesday, December 31. (@Southcom via X)
Maduro declined to comment on the strike during the interview, but said he might “talk about it in a few days.”
In recent weeks, Trump has stepped up pressure on Maduro, ordering a total blockade of oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela, designating his regime as a foreign terrorist organization and accusing it of using stolen U.S. assets to finance terrorism, drug trafficking and other criminal activities.
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US authorities also seized two ships carrying sanctioned oil.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner, Morgan Phillips, Jasmine Baehr and Associated Press contributed to this report.
