In a story datelined the evening of Oct. 6, based on unnamed “U.S. officials” not otherwise described, the New York Times reported that, “during a meeting with senior military leaders on [Oct. 2] Thursday, Mr. Trump called Mr. [Richard] Grenell and instructed him that all diplomatic outreach, including his talks with [Venezuelan President] Mr. Maduro, was to stop.” That, asserts the Times, paves the wave for a potential military strike against Venezuela.
EIR has not been able to independently confirm the accuracy of the Times story. We can confirm, however, that there is a powerful neo-con gang inside the Trump administration, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who are loaded for bear on Venezuela, and only want to go in with guns blazing, and adamantly opposed to the Grenell negotiations.
Richard Grenell, U.S. President Donald Trump’s Special Presidential Envoy, had been negotiating for months with officials of the Venezuelan government, including meeting with President Nicolás Maduro himself. Such negotiations led last February to the release of six Americans, who had been convicted in Venezuela. Grenell’s discussions had continued, even as the U.S. military invasion-level force had been assembled off Venezuela’s coast.
On Sept. 15, Grenell told a regionwide meeting of the U.S.-led Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) held in Paraguay that he still believed a diplomatic solution could be reached. “You will always hear me as someone who advocates for dialogue. I have gone to see Nicolás Maduro. I have sat in front of him. I have expressed the ‘America First’ position. I understand what he wants. I believe we can still reach an agreement. I believe in diplomacy. I believe in avoiding war,” CNN en Español reported.
According to the New York Times sources, Grenell’s talks with the Venezuela government intensified even as the U.S. military began sinking alleged drug-trafficking boats in the area. “Grenell has tried to fashion a deal that would avoid a larger conflict and give American companies access to Venezuelan oil. But Mr. Rubio and his allies have come to believe Mr. Grenell’s efforts were unhelpful and creating confusion, according to a person briefed on the matter.”
The article references already-known U.S. military capabilities and stated intentions of entering into “armed conflict” with drug cartels south of its border, including possible strikes inside Mexico, while also asserting the continued existence of “advocates of diplomacy within the Trump administration,” who warn that “further expansion of the anti-narcotics campaign into Venezuela itself, or any direct effort to force Mr. Maduro from power, would risk entangling the United States in a wider war.”
So far, multiple other media report that Trump ordered the Grenell channel to shut all citations to the New York Times story. As of this report, EIR is not aware of any response from the Venezuelan government.
