President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela has warned that he would respond to any U.S. military action with an “armed fight” and claimed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was trying draw President Trump into a war in the Caribbean that would mar his reputation.
“Mr. President, Donald Trump,” the Venezuelan leader said on Monday, “watch out, because Mr. Rubio wants to stain your hands with blood.”
The statements, made from Caracas during Mr. Maduro’s first news conference in over a year, come amid rising tensions between Venezuela and the United States. In late August, the United States began moving warships and troops into the Caribbean, near Venezuelan waters — which the Trump administration has said was to combat drug trafficking.
But the size of the military buildup has led to speculation over whether the real goal is to oust Mr. Maduro, through military action or other pressure.
Mr. Rubio said recently that “for the first time in the modern era,” the U.S. government was “truly on the offense” against organized cartels sending drugs to the United States. He and other officials in the Trump administration have called Mr. Maduro an illegitimate leader and his government a “narco-terror cartel.”
Jimmy Story, a former U.S. ambassador to Venezuela during Mr. Trump’s first term, said in an interview that using so much military might to take out drug trafficking boats was a bit like “using a blowtorch to cook an egg.”
Mr. Maduro, in his news conference, called the Venezuelan people “warriors” who would respond to any incursion with “maximum rebellion.” But as he seemingly tried to project force, Mr. Maduro also called for peace, an apparent attempt to appeal to Mr. Trump’s campaign promise to end wars — not start them.
He mentioned the Nobel Peace Prize — an apparent allusion to Mr. Trump’s stated interest in receiving it — and said that Mr. Rubio, a longtime proponent of aggressive action that could lead to a change of government in Venezuela, “wants the last name Trump to be stained with blood for centuries.”
The Venezuelan leader also acknowledged that his government in recent months has had two separate channels of dialogue with the Trump administration: One with Richard Grenell, a special envoy, and another with John McNamara, the top U.S. diplomat to Venezuela, who answers to Mr. Rubio.
While the relationship between the two countries was currently in “bad shape,” Mr. Maduro conceded, he said he believed it could be repaired.
Mr. Trump, he said, was “an intelligent, bold man. He’ll known what to do. Hopefully those channels can be recovered.”
Mr. Maduro called the Naval buildup “the greatest threat that has been seen on our continent in the last 100 years” in the form of “eight military ships with 1,200 missiles” targeting Venezuela.
The deployment includes several guided-missile destroyers and ships carrying 4,5000 sailors and 2,200 Marines, according to Defense Department officials.
On Friday, Mr. Rubio traveled to Florida to meet with military leaders at U.S. Southern Command to discuss security issues in the region, according to the State Department.
This week he is scheduled to travel to Mexico and Ecuador, trips the Trump administration says are meant to advance the U.S. government’s “unwavering commitment to protect its borders, neutralize narco-terrorist threats to our homeland, and ensure a level playing field for American businesses.”
Julie Turkewitz is the Andes Bureau Chief for The Times, based in Bogotá, Colombia, covering Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru.
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