The United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said that the visit to Caracas by Richard Grenelll, senior official of the Donal Trump administration, does not mean that the US will recognize Nicolás Maduro as legitimate president of Venezuela.
«There are no conversations to recognize Maduro (….) In fact, we don’t recognize him«Rubio said in an interview with Fox News during a tour of Central America.
He added that Grenell’s trip served to press Maduro’s government to accept deported migrants and to free six jailed Americans, who, he said, were his “hostages.”
“Maduro knows that the United States has many options to inflict serious damage to his regime,” said Rubio.
Grenelll’s visit generated surprise given Trump’s hard previous position against the official ruler. In fact, the White House clarified that the special envoy trip to Caracas does not mean that the United States recognizes it as president of Venezuela.
“Absolutely not,” replied the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, when consulted by journalists if Grenelll’s trip meant a change in the recognition of Edmundo González Urrutia as legitimate president of Venezuela.
Diplomatic meeting between Grenelll and Maduro
Venezuelan state television broadcast images of the Grenelll meeting with Maduro in Caracas, which indicated an unusual commitment between the two governments.
Through a statement, the Chavista administration indicated that, during the meeting, held at the Miraflores Presidential Palace, Maduro raised the construction of a zero agenda for a new beginning in bilateral relations, broken since 2019.
According to the text, various issues of interest to both countries were addressed, among which the maturist government pointed out migration, the impact of economic sanctions, the situation of American citizens involved crimes in national territory and the integrity of the Venezuelan political system.
In parallel, Trump said he will not allow the purchase of oil to Venezuela as he did his predecessor, Joe Biden, who relieved the sanctions scheme with the issuance of licenses to foreign companies, including the American Chevron, to operate in the Caribbean country, which has the largest proven reserves of crude.
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(Tagstotranslate) Marco Rubio (T) Richard Grenelll (T) Richard Grenell Maduro
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