Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro made clear early this week that he'd be willing to hold "face-to-face" talks with US officials and warned President Trump against starting a war with his country.

"In the United States, whoever wants to talk with Venezuela will talk, face to face, without any problem," Maduro said on his weekly TV program, comments that came after Trump suggested that his administration "may" be holding talks with the Venezuelan government.

But Trump also told reporters on Monday that he wouldn’t rule out sending troops into Venezuela, and the major US military buildup in the Caribbean continues. Maduro said that if Trump ordered military strikes on Venezuela, it would be the "biggest mistake of his life."

Maduro suggested that political factions within the US are trying to hurt Trump before the 2026 congressional elections by pressuring him on the Jeffrey Epstein scandal and pushing him to go to war with Venezuela. "They want President Trump to attack Venezuela militarily, which would be the end of his political leadership and his name," the Venezuelan leader said, according to the Miami Herald.

Maduro has previously focused his criticism on Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has been leading the push toward war with Venezuela.

"Mr. President Donald Trump, you have to be careful because Marco Rubio wants your hands stained with blood, with South American blood, Caribbean blood, Venezuelan blood," Maduro told reporters when the US began its bombing campaign against alleged drug boats in the region.

Following the first US strikes on boats in the region, Maduro sent a letter to Trump urging for diplomacy and stating his readiness to talk with Trump’s special envoy, Ric Grennel, who met directly with the Venezuelan leader back in January.

Despite the US push toward war, Venezuela has still been cooperating on deportation flights from the US. Between March and mid-October, the US conducted 40 removal flights to Caracas, deporting about 8,000 Venezuelan nationals.