President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the United States may open talks with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, marking a potential shift as tensions rise and Washington expands its military presence in the Caribbean.
Trump told reporters in West Palm Beach that Maduro “would like to talk,” but offered no further details. Washington has long accused the Venezuelan leader of links to drug trafficking, allegations Maduro rejects.
The remarks follow three senior-level meetings at the White House last week to review possible military options against Venezuela, including limited land strikes, according to officials familiar with the discussions. Trump said on Friday that he had “sort of made up” his mind on the issue, indicating that a decision could come soon. Caracas did not immediately comment.
Earlier on Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the United States would designate Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organisation.
U.S. officials accuse the group of working with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua to transport narcotics into the United States and allege that Maduro oversees the network, a claim he denies. Asked whether the designation could allow the United States to target Maduro’s assets, Trump said it “allows us to do that,” while stressing that no decision had been taken.
The Pentagon confirmed on Sunday that the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford and its strike group had moved into the Caribbean, joining eight warships, a nuclear submarine and F-35 aircraft already deployed.
Human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, have condemned recent U.S. boat strikes targeting suspected drug traffickers as extrajudicial killings. Some U.S. allies have also raised concerns about the operations’ legality.
The White House argues that the United States is engaged in an armed conflict with drug cartels and says military personnel involved in the strikes are protected under a Justice Department legal opinion.
Venezuela has accused Washington of violating international law and says it is preparing its defences.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Friday found that only 35% of respondents support the use of U.S. military force inside Venezuela without the government's approval.
Trump’s comments came as the Pentagon announced another strike on an alleged drug-trafficking vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing three people described as “narco-terrorists.” It was the twenty-first such operation since early September, bringing the total reported deaths to more than eighty.
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Hundreds of flights have been cancelled or rerouted at Catania Airport over the past week as ash from Mount Etna’s ongoing eruption continues to disrupt air travel in Sicily.
Iran says the Strait of Hormuz remains under its control, rejecting U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim of “total control” over the strategic waterway and insisting it will not reopen until Washington fulfils its commitments under an interim deal.
The U.S. will impose unprecedented measures on Iran in order to economically isolate the country, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said.
Wildfires across England and Wales have reached their highest level on record, according to the National Fire Chiefs Council, as firefighters struggle to contain outbreaks following a spell of extreme heat.
One person has been killed and six others injured after an explosion at a petroleum storage facility at the Port of Rotterdam, prompting an investigation into the cause.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised deepening ties with North Korea, saying Moscow and Pyongyang are coordinating their efforts to ensure “regional security and stability”.
Russia and Ukraine traded large-scale overnight attacks targeting energy, industrial and military facilities on Saturday, with a three-month-old baby killed and 11 people injured in a Russian drone strike on a residential building in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region.
At least 47 people have been killed after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off eastern Indonesia early on Saturday, triggering small tsunami waves and dozens of aftershocks, officials say.
Jason Arday, the former University of Cambridge professor at the centre of a plagiarism row, has been found dead. He was appointed Cambridge's youngest ever Black professor in 2023, but quit on 5 August, after being accused of lifting passages from his PhD from the work of other academics.
Wildfires across England and Wales have reached their highest level on record, according to the National Fire Chiefs Council, as firefighters struggle to contain outbreaks following a spell of extreme heat.
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