US President, Donald Trump has reportedly warned Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro to leave the country or face immediate consequences during a phone call between the two leaders.
Trump called Mr Maduro on Friday following a series of deadly American drone strikes against alleged Venezuelan drug boats.
Following the phone call, the US President took to social media to declare Venezuelan airspace should be considered closed and that military action could begin “very soon.”
Now, it has emerged Mr Trump offered the Venezuelan leader, as well as his wife and son, safe passage out of the country if he resigns immediately.
According to a report in the Miami Herald, Mr Maduro responded by asking for global amnesty, which was rejected.
Ultimately, Mr Maduro rejected Mr Trump’s calls to resign.
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The phone call came as tensions between the United States and Venezuela reached boiling point, with a US land invasion now expected to begin in the coming weeks.
On Sunday, Mr Trump jumped to the defence of his Secretary of War after he was accused of ordering troops to “leave no survivors” when hitting an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean.
It was reported that Pete Hesgeth verbally told defence officials to “kill everybody” after an attack on a vessel off the coast of Trinidad carrying 11 people, which left only two survivors.
After Mr Hesgeth’s alleged kill order, the two survivors, who were said to be clinging on the remnants of the boat, were “blown apart in the water” during the second strike, The Washington Post reported.
However, Mr Hesgeth refuted the allegations as “fabricated, inflammatory and derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland” in a statement on X.
Donald Trump’s administration began striking boats in the Caribbean in September after claiming they were being used to traffic drugs to the US without providing evidence.
In a social media statement on Friday evening, Mr Hesgeth appeared to address this criticism and said the strikes had been “lawful under both US and international law.”
Venezuela has condemned the attacks, which have killed more than 80 people.
The US is hoping to break down the cartels’ hierarchy, which officials say is headed by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and run by members of his regime, a claim Mr Maduro denies.
“You probably noticed that people aren’t wanting to be delivering by sea, and we’ll be starting to stop them by land also,” Mr Trump told military service members in a call on Friday.
He added: “The land is easier, but that’s going to start very soon.
“We warned them to stop sending poison to our country.”
Reported by LBC
