The United States special representative for Venezuela Elliot Abrams has secretly met with Venezuela foreign minister Jorge Arreaza recently this recent week, the Associated Press has reported on Thursday while citing a senior Venezuelan official and President Nicolas Maduro.
According to news reported by Reuters, Washington had disavowed Venezuelan Maduro’s government and has backed its opposition leader Juan Guaido, who self-proclaimed himself as interim president of the nation, who had invoked articles last month, of the constitutional in order to assume the presidency over promises to put an end to humanitarian crisis which was caused by an economic collapse and political crisis.
In an interview, the Venezuelan president has said Jorge Arreaza had met twice with Abrams for several hours of talks in New York and has also invited him to pay a visit to Venezuela “privately, publicly or secretly”.
The AP has quoted Maduro as saying that “is Abrams wants to meet, just tell me when, where and how and I’ll be there.” The AP, while citing a senior Venezuelan official, has reported that the most recent meeting has been held on Monday.
On February 7, Abrams has said the time for further dialogues with Maduro “has long passed”, except for the negotiation over his departure.
In a response to the query, a US state department official said: “It should come as no surprise that State Department officials exchange opinions with a wide variety of foreign interlocutors, especially while we continue to take all steps to ensure the safety and security of our Embassy personnel.”
A senior Trump administration official added, “The United States is willing to meet with former Venezuela officials, including Maduro himself, to discuss their exit plans.”