Venezuela's illegitimate president Nicolas Maduro offered to engage in direct talks with the administration of US President Donald Trump days after the first US strike on a boat from the South American country carrying drug traffickers.
In a letter to Trump that was viewed by Reuters, Maduro rejected US claims that Venezuela played a big role in drug trafficking, claiming that just five per cent of drugs produced in Colombia are shipped through Venezuela - of which he said 70 per cent were neutralised and destroyed by Venezuelan authorities.
"President, I hope that together we can defeat the falsehoods that have sullied our relationship, which must be historic and peaceful," Maduro wrote in the letter. "These and other issues will always be open for a direct and frank conversation with your special envoy (Richard Grenell) to overcome media noise and fake news."
He noted that Grenell had helped quickly resolve earlier allegations that Venezuela was refusing to take back migrants, adding, "To date, this channel has functioned flawlessly."
Twice-weekly deportation flights moving illegal migrants to Venezuela from the US have continued uninterrupted despite the US strikes, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Maduro's letter was dated September 6, four days after a US strike on a vessel was carrying drug traffickers. The strike killed 11 members of the Tren de Aragua gang and engaged in drug trafficking.
Trump doubled down on his pressure campaign on Saturday, warning in a social media post that Venezuela must accept the return of all prisoners whom he said Venezuela had forced into the US, or else pay an "incalculable" price.
Trump on Friday announced at least the third strike against drug vessels from Venezuela amid a large US military buildup in the southern Caribbean that includes seven warships, a nuclear-powered submarine and F-35 stealth fighters.
The Venezuelan Government, which says it has deployed tens of thousands of troops to fight drug trafficking and defend the country, has said none of the people killed in the first strike belonged to Tren de Aragua. It also denies accusations of links between high-ranking Venezuelan authorities and drug gangs.
Maduro has repeatedly alleged the US is hoping to drive him from power. Trump this week denied he was interested in regime change, but Washington last month doubled its reward for information leading to Maduro's arrest to $50 million, accusing him of links to drug trafficking and criminal groups.
Maduro reiterated his denial in his letter to Trump.
"This is the most egregious instance of disinformation against our nation, intended to justify an escalation to armed conflict that would inflict catastrophic damage across the entire continent," he wrote in his letter to Trump.
Trump's administration appears divided on Venezuela, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth spearheading the pressure campaign against Maduro, while Grenell, who served as acting director of national intelligence during Trump's first term, and others pushing diplomacy.
In his letter, Maduro said he had and would continue to communicate with Grenell, who helped organise the deportation flights, some directly to Caracas and others via Honduras.
The administration official said more than 8,000 Venezuelans have been removed from the US with the flights to date.
Grenell also worked with the Maduro regime to secure the release of seven US citizens, including an Air Force veteran Joe St. Clair released in May whose family said he had been wrongly detained in Venezuela since November 2024.
Grenell was not immediately available to comment.
"Maduro is clearly making overtures," said Geoff Ramsey, Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank. "The question for the White House is, how do they get a victory here? Maduro is not going to want to deliver his head on the silver platter to the Venezuelan opposition or to the Americans."
Ramsey said the US buildup was aimed at encouraging the opposition to overthrow Maduro, but that strategy had been tried unsuccessfully for over decades.
Henry Ziemer, associate fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, noted that Trump had a clear aversion to entanglements, but more targeted strikes were likely.
"I don't think Trump wants a war, and Maduro certainly doesn't want a war," Ziemer said. "But the more assets you put in the region...the more opportunities there are for miscalculation. The risk is that we end up in a position where both Maduro and Trump feel as if they cannot back down."
(Reuters staff in Washington and Bogota; Editing by Mary Milliken and Andrea Ricci)