Maduro should take U.S. offer to negotiate his exit, Trump official says

Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, recently accused of drug trafficking by the United States, should learn from history and accept an offer by the Trump administration to negotiate his exit, a senior official of President Donald Trump’s administration said Monday.

“History shows that those who do not cooperate with U.S. law-enforcement agencies do not fare well,” the official said in a call with journalists. “Maduro probably regrets not taking the offer six months ago. We urge Maduro not to regret not taking it now.”

The Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald first reported in July 2019 that the administration was willing to offer Maduro guarantees that he would not be prosecuted if he agreed to step down.

The official said that the accusation of drug trafficking unveiled last week by the Justice Department against Maduro and other top regime officials complicates his situation from a legal point of view.

“Politically, we would negotiate the conditions [of his departure], but he has to leave power,” he said.

The official did not clarify if the offer would also be valid for Diosdado Cabello, Maduro’s number two, whom the United States accuses of leading the so-called Cartel de los Soles, a drug-trafficking operation made up of military members and officials of the Maduro regime.

The senior official declined to comment on reports that Hugo Carvajal, the former head of Venezuelan military intelligence under Hugo Chávez, is negotiating his surrender to U.S. authorities.

Carvajal is allegedly in Spain and is one of those accused of drug trafficking by the Department of Justice.

Former Gen. Cliver Alcalá, also accused in the indictment, is already in U.S. custody.

The charges against Maduro unveiled last Thursday prompted the Russian oil company Rosneft, whose subsidiaries already face sanctions for transporting Venezuelan oil, to liquidate its assets in that country and transfer them to a Russian government company.