Venezuela's authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro offered to hold talks with the Trump administration to fight drug-trafficking as his regime sustains increased pressure on different fronts.
In an interview with friendly journalist Ignacio Ramonet, Maduro said that if Washington wants to "talk seriously about an agreement to combat drug trafficking, we are ready."
The message came as the Trump administration continues to target alleged drug vessels in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, with the death toll from the strikes now standing at 115.
The latest strikes took place this week. The U.S. Southern Command disclosed the first series of attacks in a social media publication, saying "three narco-terrorists aboard the first vessel were killed in the first engagement."
The remaining people aboard, the force said, "abandoned the other two vessels, jumping overboard and distancing themselves before follow-on engagements sank their respective vessels."
The U.S. Coast Guard was notified to begin searching for the survivors, but two days after it's unclear if any were found. "The U.S. Coast Guard is coordinating search and rescue operations with vessels in the area, and a Coast Guard C-130 aircraft is en route to provide further search coverage," the force said.
Hours later the Southern Command announced it had conducted two more vessels, killing five people. There have now been at least 34 strikes against alleged drug boats since the campaign began in September.
Elsewhere in the interview with Ramonet, Maduro publicly offered oil deals to Trump. "If they want Venezuelan oil, Venezuela is ready for U.S. investments like with Chevron, whenever they want, wherever they want, and however they want," he said.
In the meantime, Venezuela's oil output in the Orinoco Belt, its richest region and which accounts for almost two-thirds of the total production, has plummeted since the U.S. began enforcing a blockade of sanctioned tankers in December, according to another report.
Citing internal data at state-run oil company PDVSA, Bloomberg detailed that production in the region dropped 25% from two weeks prior. The company has begun shutting some wells because it's running out of storage unit as it continues to be unable to load oil in tankers. This represents a major blow to the Maduro regime, as more than 95% of the country's revenue comes from oil sales.
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