Venezuelan president says ready for dialogue with US on combating drug trafficking

CARACAS -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said in a TV broadcast on Thursday that he is ready if Washington wants serious negotiations on an agreement to combat drug trafficking.

Maduro said many people, even within the United States, do not believe the narrative of drug manufacturing in Venezuela, noting that both Venezuela and the United States need to hold a serious dialogue based on the facts.

He also said Venezuela would accept US investment at any time, such as investment from the US oil company Chevron, if the United States needs Venezuelan oil.

Venezuelan Vice-President and Minister of Petroleum Delcy Rodriguez confirmed in a social media post in December 2025 that Chevron's oil tanker carrying crude oil had legally left Venezuela for the United States.

For recent months, the United States has maintained a significant military presence in the Caribbean, much of it off Venezuela's coast, purportedly to "combat drug trafficking" -- a claim Venezuela has denounced as a thinly veiled attempt to topple its government.

The US forces have sunk about 30 so-called "drug trafficking ships" in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific, causing more than 100 deaths.