‘There were a lot of lies’: White House rejects Maduro’s letter to Trump amid Caribbean standoff -Video
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday that the Trump administration’s stance on Venezuela remains unchanged, despite Nicolás Maduro sending a letter during the Caribbean standoff.
“We have seen this letter. Frankly, I think there were a lot of lies that were repeated by Maduro in that letter. And the administration's position on Venezuela has not changed”, Leavitt told reporters in Washington. “We view the Maduro regime as illegitimate, and the President has clearly shown that he's willing to use any and all means necessary to stop the illegal trafficking of deadly drugs from the Venezuelan regime into the United States of America”.
The standoff has escalated since August, when Maduro condemned the deployment of US warships, submarines, aircraft and marines to the southern Caribbean. Washington insists the operations are part of an anti-drug crackdown, while Caracas has denounced them as a threat to sovereignty.
Earlier this month, Maduro’s letter rejected US accusations of drug trafficking as “fake news”, highlighting Venezuela’s anti-narcotics record and calling for direct talks with Trump. In response, the Venezuelan government launched military exercises and warned of possible aggression, with Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino López calling the US presence “threatening” and Maduro accusing Washington of pursuing regime change.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
