Trump and Maduro reportedly spoke by phone, according to The New York Times.

The New York Times reported that U.S. President Donald Trump spoke by phone with Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro last week, with Secretary Marco Rubio present. According to the American newspaper, they even discussed the possibility of a face-to-face meeting in the United States, although—always according to those accounts—there are no concrete plans.

The publication comes in the context of an unprecedented military offensive against drug trafficking networks associated with the Chavista regime, while Trump keeps an increasingly direct discourse against Maduro, whom he describes as a narco-terrorist and leader of the Cartel of the Suns.

The NYT, historically aligned with the Democratic left and known for its defense of Chavismo, presented the alleged conversation as a diplomatic gesture. However, the report itself admits that the U.S. president hardened his stance immediately afterward: on Thursday, he again warned that ground attacks against Venezuelan narco operators will begin. "Land is easier, but that's going to start very soon," Trump told the press.

The contrast between the newspaper's accommodating narrative and the U.S. president's public statements once again exposes the newspaper's role in the American political dispute: while progressive sectors seek to portray Trump as "open to dialogue," the reality is that the United States keeps increasing pressure on the criminal apparatus of Chavismo.

Since September, Washington has been bombing vessels transporting drugs from Venezuela and other countries in the region. This strategy has been criticized by Democrats and allied NGOs, who speak of "extrajudicial executions," but the White House keeps that these are operations against criminal organizations protected by a mafia state.

Neither the White House nor the Venezuelan Ministry of Communications replied to Reuters' inquiries about the alleged call reported by the NYT. There are, so far, no official confirmations regarding the existence of this communication and even less about its content.

What is confirmed is the hardening of the U.S. government's stance toward Maduro, and the escalation of military operations against drug trafficking that sustains the regime. Washington's actual course of action appears to be moving in the opposite direction of the "diplomatic opening" suggested by certain media outlets.