USA 🇺🇸 vs Latin America Cartels Thread: Trump Secret War in Mexico 🇲🇽? US puts money on Maduro/Venezuela 🇻🇪 - 🇺🇸 NAVY 🚢 off 🇻🇪 coast
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Trump Spoke by Phone Last Week With Maduro, Venezuela’s Leader
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They discussed a possible meeting between the two of them, but nothing has been scheduled, and the administration continues to increase the military pressure on Venezuela.
Nov. 28, 2025Updated 3:06 p.m. ET
Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro seen from the crowd as he make a speech onstage.
Nicolás Maduro, the president of Venezuela, faces intensifying pressure military and diplomatic pressure from the United States.Adriana Loureiro Fernandez for The New York Times
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President Trump spoke by phone last week with Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan leader, and discussed a possible meeting between them, multiple people with knowledge of the matter said, even as the United States continues to threaten military action against Venezuela.
The conversation took place late in the week, two of the people said. It included a discussion about a possible meeting between the two men in the United States, according to the people with knowledge of the matter, who were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. There are no plans at the moment for such a meeting, one of the people said.
The phone call, which included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, came days before a State Department designation of Mr. Maduro as the leader of what the administration considers a foreign terrorist organization, the Cartel de los Soles, came into effect.
Sign up to get Maggie Haberman's articles emailed to you. Maggie Haberman is a White House correspondent reporting on President Trump.
The United States has built up a substantial military presence in the Caribbean aimed at Venezuela. Administration officials have said their goal is to deter drug smuggling, but have also made clear that they want to see Mr. Maduro removed from power, possibly by force.
The New York Times reported in October that Mr. Maduro had offered the United States a significant stake in the country’s oil fields, along with a host of other opportunities for American companies, in an effort to defuse tensions. But Mr. Maduro sought to remain in power, and the U.S. officials cut off those discussions early last month.
A White House spokeswoman declined to comment on the call between Mr. Trump and Mr. Maduro. The Venezuelan government did not respond to a request for comment. Two people close to the Venezuelan government confirmed that a direct call between the two leaders had taken place. They did not want to be identified because they are not authorized to speak publicly.
What the call ultimately means for the administration’s approach to Mr. Maduro remains to be seen. Mr. Trump has a long history of engaging in dual tracks with adversaries, with discussions on one track and threats of force on the other. The Trump administration has been using missile strikes to bomb Venezuelan boats that U.S. officials say have been trafficking drugs.
Those strikes are part of a broader aggressive posture against Venezuela, where Mr. Maduro has remained in power after a 2024 election that the United States has called corrupt. The United States has sent an aircraft carrier group to the waters near Venezuela, sent Air Force bombers over the region, prepared covert action plans and made regular threats to use force.
On Thanksgiving evening, Mr. Trump, flanked by military leaders, said that the efforts to stop drug traffickers would move to land-based operations. “The land is easier, but that’s going to start very soon,” Mr. Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago.
The administration has examined a range of options for Venezuela, including seizing the country’s oil fields. Mr. Rubio, a leader of the efforts against Mr. Maduro inside the Trump administration, has described Mr. Maduro as an illegitimate president.
But the direct conversations between Mr. Trump and Mr. Maduro could be the beginning of an effort to create an off-ramp from an escalating use of force, though the administration appears intent on an outcome that requires Mr. Maduro to leave office.
Maggie Haberman is a White House correspondent for The Times, reporting on President Trump.
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Trump probably a lowkey fan of Maduro
He loves to these authoritarian dictators
He loves to these authoritarian dictators
maduro is a complete idiot if he thinks coming to the USA and not being arrested is in his cards
Actress Rosita launders money for Tren de Aragua, US says
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Dec 3, 2025 / 04:33 PM CST
Jimena Romina Araya Navarro (a.k.a. “Rosita”), in photos provided by the U.S. Treasury Dept.
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WASHINGTON/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on a Venezuelan actress for allegedly using her entertainment career to launder money and support the Tren de Aragua gang.
Jimena Araya, also known as “Rosita” for the name of her character in comedy shows “Cheverísimo” and “¡A que te ríes!,” is romantically linked to a Tren de Aragua kingpin and helped him escape Venezuelan prison in 2012, the U.S. Treasury said.
According to U.S. authorities, Araya launders money for the organization by performing as a DJ at nightclubs and diverting a portion of the revenues to the gang’s leadership.
The Treasury named one of the nightclubs as Maiquetia VIP Bar Restaurant in the Colombian capital Bogota. The venue’s owner, her former bodyguard and manager Eryk Landaeta, was also sanctioned.
“The Tren de Aragua network’s narcotrafficking and human smuggling operations have long posed a grave threat to our nation,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, adding that the U.S. will “use every tool to cut off these terrorists from the U.S. and global financial system.”
Araya lives in Mexico, though her posts on Instagram, where she boasts 3.5 million followers, often show her traveling in Venezuela, Europe and the Caribbean. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a separate statement on Wednesday, Mexican authorities said they had sanctioned a “Venezuelan public figure linked to the entertainment sphere,” without naming Araya, and presented evidence to prosecutors for a criminal case to be opened.
Multiple moves against Venezuela
Separately on Wednesday, the U.S. State Department said it was raising its reward to $5 million for information leading to the arrest of a Tren de Aragua leader, Giovanni Mosquera.Tren de Aragua, a gang with prison origins, has become a key reference in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and as the U.S. ramps up military presence in the Caribbean.
On Tuesday, Trump said that any country trafficking illegal drugs into the U.S. could be attacked, including Venezuela or Colombia.
(Reporting by Kylie Madry in Mexico City, Katharine Jackson in Washington and Bhargav Acharya in Toronto, editing by Deepa Babington)
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