President Donald Trump presented Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro with an ultimatum during their recent phone call, according to sources, but he instead responded with demands of his own.
The U.S. president confirmed the call had taken place but declined to offer specifics – “I wouldn’t say it went well or badly, it was a phone call,” is all Trump would say about it — but sources told the Miami Herald that he sent a “blunt message” to Maduro as part of a months-long pressure campaign.
“You can save yourself and those closest to you, but you must leave the country now,” Trump said, according to the sources.
Trump offered safe passage to Maduro, his wife and his son “only if he agreed to resign right away,” but he was met instead with counter demands, three of which Trump rejected.
“First, Maduro asked for global amnesty for any crimes he and his group had committed, and that was rejected,” said a source, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “Second, they asked to retain control of the armed forces — similar to what happened in Nicaragua in ’91 with Violeta Chamorro. In return, they would allow free elections.”
The call was initially brokered by Brazil, Qatar and Turkey, and the Maduro government tried unsuccessfully to make another call after Trump announced Saturday the South American country’s airspace should be considered “closed in its entirety.”
“To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
The State Department last week formally designated the Cartel de los Soles, which the Trump administration says operates out of Venezuela, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, which places Maduro, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López in the same legal category as leaders of al-Qaeda and ISIS.
The designation is viewed as a tool to give the administration broader authority to take military action without additional congressional approval and could allow the administration to invoke the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force.
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