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US to Outline Plans for a Venezuela Without Maduro - Report

The US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross at a conference in Lima next week will outline Washington's plans to help rebuild Venezuela in the event President Nicolas Maduro leaves, Reuters reported Friday, citing a senior US official.
Sputnik

The news comes after US President Donald Trump warned on Thursday of a US blockade on Caracas.

According to Reuters, citing the US official, Maduro should view the latest comments of Trump as a sign that the ongoing talks in Barbados should end with an "exit plan".

Trump told reporters on Thursday that he was considering imposing a blockade on Venezuela or quarantining the entire country.

The Venezuelan delegation that Maduro sent to Barbados to represent his administration's interests arrived on the island on Wednesday to continue talks with the political opposition faction on the settlement of the ongoing political and economic crisis in the nation.

Since May, Caracas and the Venezuelan political opposition have been engaged in talks mediated by the Norwegian government. Earlier this month, a delegation of the Venezuelan government and representatives of the opposition held a three-day round of Norway-mediated talks in Barbados as part of the efforts to resolve the ongoing political crisis in the country.

Venezuela has long been experiencing a political and economic crisis that intensified in January when US-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself the country’s interim president after disputing the re-election of incumbent President Maduro.

The United States and 54 other countries have recognized Guaido, but Russia, China, Cuba, Bolivia, Turkey, and numerous other countries have said they recognize the constitutionally-elected Maduro as the only president of Venezuela.

Maduro said Guaido is a US puppet and accused the United States of orchestrating a coup to force a change of government in Venezuela and claim the country’s vast fossil fuel resources.

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