On the evening of Nov. 24 Axios reported that U.S. President Donald Trump has indicated his intention to call Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Whether he will, remains to be seen. Such a call is said to be in the “planning stages,” according to unnamed White House officials, although no date has been given. Axios’ publication of this report coincided with the designation of the Cartel de los Soles, the drug cartel of which Maduro is the alleged kingpin, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).
Among the anonymous White House personnel cited, one told Axios that right now no one is “planning to go in and shoot him or snatch him…. I wouldn’t say never, but that’s not the plan right now.” But in the meantime, however, “we’re going to blow up boats shipping drugs. We’re going to stop the drug trafficking.”
Another official said “No one would hazard a guess as to what Trump will say to Maduro or how he plans to say it; the cliché `all options are on the table’ applies.” The news agency notes that, because Maduro will have been just named as the head of an FTO, this gives Trump “more of a pretext to take military action.” But, Axios notes, since Trump has made up his mind to speak directly with Maduro, “there’s more talk about talking and less talk about bombing…. I see a diplomatic solution as being very likely,” one advisor said.
