{"id":59044,"date":"2020-01-19T11:44:10","date_gmt":"2020-01-19T03:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=59044"},"modified":"2020-01-19T11:44:12","modified_gmt":"2020-01-19T03:44:12","slug":"pres-maduro-says-still-in-control-open-to-talks-with-us-washington-post-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=59044","title":{"rendered":"Pres Maduro says still in control, open to talks with US: Washington Post report"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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WASHINGTON, Jan 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said he was still comfortably in charge and open to direct negotiations with the US, in an interview published Saturday by The Washington Post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The interview was Maduro\u2019s first with a major US outlet since February of last year, when he abruptly ejected all Univision journalists from Venezuela.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf there\u2019s respect between governments, no matter how big the United States is, and if there\u2019s a dialogue, an exchange of truthful information, then be sure we can create a new type of relationship,\u201d Maduro told the Post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The socialist leader said he was ready to hold talks with the US to negotiate an end to sanctions imposed by President Donald Trump intended to throttle the South American country\u2019s oil industry and force Maduro from power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maduro indicated that, if Trump were to lift sanctions, US oil companies could benefit immensely from Venezuela\u2019s oil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA relationship of respect and dialogue brings a win-win situation. A confrontational relationship brings a lose-lose situation. That\u2019s the formula,\u201d Maduro said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US, along with more than 50 other countries, recognizes Maduro\u2019s opposition rival Juan Guaido as the country\u2019s legitimate interim president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guaido has called for a new presidential election to be held, on the grounds that Maduro is an \u201cillegitimate\u201d president because his 2018 re-election was tainted by fraud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oil-rich Venezuela\u2019s economy is crumbling under Maduro\u2019s rule, and millions have fled the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But despite the humanitarian catastrophe and biting US sanctions, Maduro maintains power with the support of the military as well as Russia, China and Cuba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While speaking to the Post, Maduro also expressed willingness to talk with Guaido, but appeared to dismiss his opponent\u2019s main demand that he step down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Norway has mediated talks between Maduro\u2019s and Guaido\u2019s representatives, but the meetings broke down in August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US in early January threw its support behind negotiations in Venezuela, saying talks could establish a transitional government, lead to fresh elections and bring an end to the country\u2019s long-running political crisis. — NNN-AGENCIES
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WASHINGTON, Jan 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said he was still comfortably in charge and open to direct negotiations with the US, in an interview published Saturday by The Washington Post. The interview was Maduro\u2019s first with a major US outlet since February of last year, when he abruptly ejected all Univision journalists […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[208],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59044"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=59044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59044\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=59044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=59044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=59044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}