The Associated Press (AP) news agency revealed on Monday that Nicolás Maduro’s right hand held at least one meeting with senior officials of the United States Government, in order to look for a negotiation for Maduro’s exit from power in Venezuela.
In that conversation, in which other Chavismo militants close to Maduro also participated, the US representatives tried to persuade them to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.
Part of the negotiations would include a series of guarantees for Cabello, Vice President of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and president of the National Constituent Assembly and other leaders, as long as they accept the demands of the international community and facilitate a transparent and credible electoral process that manages to end the crisis that plagues Venezuela.
The first meeting would have taken place in Caracas last July, according to AP. In this place, Cabello received a senior Trump administration official. Washington is looking for a second meeting that has not materialized.
Some guarantees that Cabello and other Chavista militants negotiated include not being prosecuted for crimes, should they resign or collaborate with the peaceful exit of Chavismo in the South American country.
According to the News Agency, the information was provided by a senior official of the Trump administration, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals and because the talks are preliminary. In addition, it is not clear if they have the approval of Nicolás Maduro.
According to the report, the US intention is not to pave the way for Cabello to access power in Venezuela instead of Maduro, but rather to increase the tension that exists internally in Chavismo, since it is presumed that there are strong clashes between Cabello and Maduro. Even so, they point out that sources close to Chavismo indicated that Cabello’s objective is not to betray or pass over Maduro and that the decisions taken will be made under his knowledge.