Socialist dictator of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro on Wednesday claimed his recent phone conversation with President Donald Trump was “friendly” and “cordial.”
Trump confirmed to reporters Sunday aboard Air Force One he spoke with Maduro over the phone. While the president did not disclose details on the call or mentioned the date that the call took place, he stressed, “I wouldn’t say it went well or badly. It was a phone call.”
Maduro, during a regime event broadcasted by state media, also confirmed for the first time that he recently spoke to Trump. According to the regime-funded propaganda network Telesur, Maduro claimed the exchange was started by the White House, and touted his past tenure as Foreign Minister during the rule of his predecessor, late socialist dictator Hugo Chávez.
“I received a call and spoke with the President of the United States, Donald Trump. I can say that the conversation was respectful in tone,” Maduro said. “I can even say that it was cordial between the President of the United States and the President of Venezuela.”
“I will say more, if that call means that steps are being taken toward a respectful dialogue from State to State, from country to country, then dialogue is welcomed, diplomacy is welcomed, because we will always seek peace,” he continued.
The Venezuelan dictator, in an apparent new attempt at speaking English, then said, “Welcome diolops, welcome diplomats, welcome the pits. Pits? Yes. War? Never, never in the like [sic throughout].”
During the broadcast, Maduro reportedly claimed he learned “diplomatic prudence” during the six years he served as Hugo Chávez’s Foreign Minister, and then as president thanks to the “school of foreign affairs and the teacher I had, our commander Chávez.”
“I have come to appreciate prudence. I don’t like microphone diplomacy. When there are important matters, they must be kept quiet until they are resolved,” Maduro claimed.
Tensions between the United States and Venezuela rose in recent months amid the U.S. military deployment in the Caribbean against drug trafficking cartels operating in the region. Maduro, actively wanted by U.S. authorities, stands accused by U.S. courts on multiple narco-terrorism charges and of being a leading figure, if not the leader of, the Cartel of the Suns, an international cocaine trafficking operation allegedly run by members of the Maduro regime and the Venezuelan military.
Maduro and his socialist regime claim the U.S. military operations against drug traffickers in the Caribbean are instead a pretext to stage an alleged “invasion” of Venezuela, oust Maduro from power, and “steal” Venezuela’s resources.
Reports from both the Miami Herald and Reuters indicate that Trump issued an “ultimatum” to Maduro, demanding his immediate departure from Venezuela in exchange for safe passage for him and his family. Maduro reportedly conditioned his departure on him and his family receiving full “amnesty” and the removal of U.S. sanctions on over 100 members of the socialist regime.
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