Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced on Thursday that his administration is willing to engage in talks with the United States to establish a deal, following months of U.S. military pressure aimed at dismantling drug trafficking networks linked to his government.

During a pre-recorded interview with Spanish journalist Ignacio Ramonet, which was broadcasted on state television, Maduro expressed Venezuela’s readiness to negotiate a drug-trafficking agreement with the U.S. He urged that both nations should “begin discussions earnestly, with facts in hand.”

“The U.S. government is aware, as we have communicated to many of their representatives, that if they are genuinely interested in discussing a drug trafficking agreement, we are prepared,” Maduro stated. “If they are seeking oil, Venezuela is open to U.S. investments, similar to our arrangements with Chevron, at any time, place, and manner they prefer.”

Currently, Chevron Corp. stands as the sole major American oil company transporting Venezuelan crude oil to the United States.

President Nicolás Maduro is pictured attending a session at the National Assembly in Caracas on August 22, 2025. (Photo by Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images)

Maduro said the U.S. wants a regime change in Venezuela and access to its oil reserves through a months-long pressure campaign that began with a major military deployment to the Caribbean Sea in August.

He said it is clear the U.S. wants “to impose themselves through threats, intimidation and force.”

The interview was recorded on New Year’s Eve, the same day the U.S. military announced a kinetic strike that killed five people aboard two vessels operated by designated terrorist organizations involved in narcotics trafficking.

Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro joined a rally in Caracas on Dec. 10. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)

At least 114 people have been killed since the U.S. began bombing alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific in early September.

The U.S. may be signaling a possible expansion of its Venezuela-focused campaign, including potential ground operations.

President Donald Trump confirmed that a strike last week targeted what he described as a Venezuelan port used for drug trafficking, but declined to say whether the operation was carried out by the U.S. military or another entity, such as the CIA.

USSOUTHCOM announced another kinetic strike against alleged naro-terrorist vessels on Wednesday, Dec. 31.  (@Southcom via X)

Maduro declined to comment on that strike during the interview, but said he could “talk about it in a few days.”

In recent weeks, Trump has intensified pressure on Maduro, ordering a total blockade of oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela, designating his regime a foreign terrorist organization, and accusing it of using stolen U.S. assets to fund terrorism, drug trafficking and other criminal activity.

U.S. authorities have also seized two ships carrying sanctioned oil.