WASHINGTON: Donald Trump suggested Sunday that future talks with Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro could be on the table, as a regional US military buildup has whipped up tensions between the nations.
The US president spoke after Washington further upped the ante by announcing plans to designate as a terrorist group a cartel that it claims Maduro runs.
"We may be having some discussions with Maduro, and we'll see how that turns out," Trump told reporters in Florida, adding: "They would like to talk."
Pressed for more details, he replied: "Venezuela would like to talk. What does it mean? You tell me, I don't know. I'd talk to anybody."
Earlier Sunday, the US State Department said it would classify Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns), which it claims is headed by Maduro as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO).
"Cartel de los Soles by and with other designated FTOs including Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel are responsible for terrorist violence throughout our hemisphere as well as for trafficking drugs into the United States and Europe," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
The designation, effective from November 24, follows a huge US military mobilization in the Caribbean which Washington states is necessary to prevent drug smuggling into the United States.
But Caracas claims it is really a ploy to overthrow its leftist president Maduro, who the United States considers an illegitimate leader and a drug lord -- a charge that he denies.
Deadly US strikes
Rubio reiterated an established US stance Sunday that Cartel de los Soles is led by Maduro and other high-ranking officials "who have corrupted Venezuela's military, intelligence, legislature, and judiciary."
"Neither Maduro nor his cronies represent Venezuela's legitimate government," he added.
The US Treasury in July announced sanctions against Cartel de los Soles after it was classified as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity for allegedly providing "material support" to other Latin American crime groups.
Rubio also said Sunday the United States "will continue using all available tools to protect our national security interests and deny funding and resources to narco-terrorists."
Since launching the anti-trafficking military campaign in September, US forces have killed at least 83 people accused of ferrying drugs in international waters, according to an AFP tally of publicly released figures.
The United States has released no details to back up its claims that the people targeted -- in both the Caribbean and eastern Pacific -- in the more than 20 strikes were actually traffickers.
Experts say the deaths amount to extrajudicial killings even if they target known traffickers.
The US military also on Sunday confirmed the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier was now in the Caribbean Sea for the anti-smuggling campaign -- dubbed "Operation Southern Spear" -- along with two guided-missile destroyers and other support vessels and aircraft.
The arrival announcement came a day after the latest US strike in the eastern Pacific, which killed three people.