Navy guided missile destroyer USS Stockdale DDG-106 docks at the Frigate Captain Noel Antonio Rodriguez Justavino Naval Base near the entrance to the Panama Canal, in Panama City, Panama, September 21, 2025. REUTERS/Enea Lebrun
By Bloomberg News
Sep 21, 2025 (Bloomberg) —Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro wrote directly to Donald Trump this month to call for talks with the US to defuse tensions.
In the letter dated Sept. 6, the socialist leader said that his government “has consistently sought direct communication to address and resolve any issue that arises between our two governments.”
“I respectfully invite you, President, to promote peace through constructive dialogue and mutual understanding throughout the hemisphere,” Maduro said, in a copy of the letter seen Sunday by Bloomberg.
Maduro spent much of the letter denying that his country is a major source of illegal drugs reaching the US, saying that most of Colombia’s cocaine production leaves through the Pacific.
Read Also: US Builds Up Forces In Caribbean As Officials, Experts, Ask Why
The US has escalated its campaign against Maduro’s government in recent weeks with the deployment of warships, aircraft and troops to the southern Caribbean, which have targeted boats it says were trafficking drugs from Venezuela. On Sept. 19, Trump said that three “narco-terrorists” had died in a strike he ordered on a boat suspected of smuggling.
In a Sept. 20 post on TruthSocial, Trump warned that Maduro will pay an “incalculable” price if he refuses to accept the deportation of Venezuelan prisoners, including people from insane asylums.
US officials have accused Maduro off being a narco-terrorist and offered $50 million for information leading to his arrest.
© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.
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