MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Trump orders suspension of diplomatic contacts with Maduro amid Venezuela military crisis

The directive, issued last Thursday, comes amid rising military tensions between Washington and Caracas. “We’ll see what phase two looks like,” Trump told reporters. Photo: Miraflores Palace

U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered a complete halt to diplomatic contacts with Nicolás Maduro’s government, marking a new escalation in Washington’s confrontation with Venezuela. According to The New York Times, the president instructed his special envoy to the country, Richard Grenell, to cease any outreach or dialogue with the Chavista regime.

The directive, issued last Thursday, comes amid rising military tensions between Washington and Caracas. “We’ll see what phase two looks like,” Trump told reporters on Sunday, hinting at a possible expansion of U.S. operations beyond the Caribbean. Later that day, during a Navy anniversary ceremony, he suggested he might consider a land offensive “against the cartels and their allies.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed on Friday that U.S. forces had carried out another extrajudicial strike off the Venezuelan coast, killing four people aboard a boat allegedly linked to drug trafficking. “They were narcoterrorists,” Hegseth said, without presenting evidence.

In recent weeks, Washington has conducted at least four similar attacks without disclosing who was aboard the targeted vessels or what they were transporting. U.S. media estimate that at least 21 people have been killed in these operations, which the White House justifies as part of a self-declared “war on drug trafficking” from Venezuela.

Trump considers Maduro the leader of both the Tren de Aragua and the Cartel of the Suns — organizations the State Department has listed as “designated terrorist groups.” In August, the Department of Justice doubled the reward for information leading to Maduro’s capture to US$50 million. The Venezuelan president is wanted in New York on charges of drug trafficking conspiracy.

U.S. military sources cited by The New York Times say the Trump administration has developed several contingency plans to escalate pressure — including the possibility of forcing Maduro from power. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, one of the strongest advocates of Trump’s hardline stance, has reportedly called Maduro an “illegitimate leader” and a “fugitive from justice.”

Grenell, who took office in January declaring that “diplomacy is back,” has now received the opposite order. With Trump’s latest directive, the diplomatic channel between Washington and Caracas has been effectively shut down.