Maduro Says Still Hopes for Dialogue With US, Building New Type of Ties With Washington

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro expressed a hope that Caracas would be able to relaunch dialogue with Washington and build a new type of relations with the United States.

“There is hope for dialogue, a new type of relations between the United States and the Bolivarian revolution, and Venezuela,” Maduro told US journalist Max Blumenthal, as broadcast by the state television.

The Venezuelan leader said that he had told US President Donald Trump about his readiness to engage in a dialogue with Washington.

“I told President Trump that if one day – today, or in the future – there was an opportunity for a [mutually] respectful dialogue and understanding, I would be ready to offer a hand … God willing!” Maduro added.

Venezuela is experiencing a political crisis that intensified in January after the US-backed opposition leader, Juan Guaido, proclaimed himself interim president. The United States, as well as the European Union, imposed sanctions on Venezuela and froze its assets. Maduro called Guaido a US puppet and accused Washington of orchestrating a change of government in order to claim Venezuelan natural resources.