(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) Venezuela has confirmed that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro sent a letter to President Donald Trump earlier this month, in which he urged talks to resolve the tensions between Caracas and Washington.
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez posted the full letter on Telegram after Reuters reported on Maduro’s outreach to Trump. She said the letter was delivered to an intermediary on September 6, four days after the US launched its first airstrike against a boat near Venezuela.
In the letter, Maduro disputed the claim that his government was linked to cartels and gangs and the idea that Venezuela was a major hub for drug trafficking, citing UN data that says just 5% of the cocaine produced in neighboring Colombia goes through Venezuela.
Maduro said that “all drugs seized along the 2,200-kilometer border with Colombia are intercepted and destroyed. It is noteworthy that this year, we have already neutralized and destroyed more than 70% of the small amount of drugs attempting to cross the border.”
Maduro also disputed claims that Venezuela was not willing to accept its citizens that the US was trying to deport, saying that the issue was resolved in talks with US envoy Ric Grenell, who met with Maduro in Caracas on January 31, 2025, and returned home with six Americans who were detained in Venezuela.
President Trump revived the claims about Venezuela’s lack of cooperation with deportations on Saturday, warning in a post on Truth Social that if the country doesn’t accept “prisoners” and people from “insane asylums” that entered the US, there would be “incalculable” costs. But Reuters reported that despite the tension between the US and Venezuela, twice-weekly deportation flights moving illegal migrants to Venezuela from the US have continued uninterrupted.
Maduro closed the letter, making an appeal to President Trump to pursue peace and dialogue. “I respectfully invite you, President, to promote peace through constructive dialogue and mutual understanding throughout the hemisphere. These and other conversations will always be open for a direct and frank conversation with your special envoy, Ric Grenell, to overcome media noise and fake news,” he said.
This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.
