Maduro warns US intervention in Venezuela would be 'political end' for Trump
Venezuela’s president alleges US groups are pushing Donald Trump towards armed action and says Caracas is ready for direct dialogue.
Venezuela’s president has warned that any US military intervention in his country would mark the "political end" of the leadership of his American counterpart, Donald Trump.
In a televised appearance on Monday, Nicolas Maduro claimed that circles around Trump are "provoking" an armed action that, he said, would push the US president "to a cliff."
He said there was "an effort by powerful sectors in the US to destroy Trump" using Venezuela.
"They want President Trump to make the most serious mistake of his entire life and set himself militarily against Venezuela, which would be the political end of his leadership and name, and he is being pressured and provoked," Maduro said.
This "provocation," he continued, "comes from his adversaries and known enemies ... but also from people around him that are making calculations over the post-Trump era, and it doesn’t matter if they cause him harm."
Face-to-face dialogue
Maduro said he did not know who those enemies might be, adding that "if he knew, he wouldn’t say who it was."
He also said Venezuela is ready for "face-to-face" dialogue with Washington, reiterating that diplomacy and the search for "communal points" remain the "invariable" position of his government.
Maduro said the country has endured "16 weeks of threats, of psychological aggression and of stalking," which, he added, has "awakened a Bolivarian National Armed Force revitalised and deployed, a Bolivarian Militia expanded and better trained, and a community that, with serenity, assumes its plans and supports its military."
Trump said on Sunday that "there could be discussions" with Maduro, "because Venezuela wants to talk," though he later suggested a determination had been made on measures to take regarding the country, without offering details.
Tensions between Washington and Caracas have escalated since August, when Trump ordered a military deployment in the Caribbean aimed, according to the US, at countering drug cartels and disrupting trafficking routes said to be linked to Maduro.
Caracas maintains the objective is regime change.