Quotes
Number two, Rick Grenell is in Venezuela to ensure that all U.S. detainees in Venezuela are returned home.”
The United States and President Trump expects Nicolas Maduro to take back all of the Venezuelan criminals and gang members that have been exported to the United States, and to do so unequivocally and without condition,
Number one, Rick Grenell has been instructed to identify a place and ensure that repatriation flights of Tren de Aragua members, of Venezuelan nationals who have broken our nation’s laws, will land in Venezuela,
Maduro is an illegitimate ruler, a tyrant who brutalises his people. But Maduro’s grip on tyranny will be smashed and broken,
We expect every nation on this planet to cooperate,
There's no way to sugarcoat it: the announced meeting between Donald Trump's special envoy, Richard Grenell, and Nicolás Maduro is another blow to the cause of democracy in Venezuela, as it constitutes a tacit recognition of his authority in the country,
wrote Venezuelan political analyst Luis Peche Arteaga on X (formerly Twitter). In his first government...Trump wasn't good to us, [but] this is a new start."
He has cautiously welcomed the shift in tone, saying I hope that during today's visit, the only thing @RichardGrenell focuses on is demanding the return of the kidnapped Americans, ensuring that Maduro takes back the thugs and gang members in our country and finding a new country for Maduro, Diosdado, and anyone else involved in this thuggish regime to relocate to ASAP."
Senator Rick Scott said on X I would urge the Maduro government, the Maduro regime in Venezuela, to heed special envoy Ric Grenell's message,
said Claver-Carone, himself a former top national security aide to Trump during his first administration There is no kind of trade-off here. There are no quid pro quos.... There are no negotiations."
Mauricio Claver-Carone told reporters on Friday The basic political dilemma remains unchanged: Maduro did not win the election he claims to have won. The pressing question is whether we will allow him to steal a second election in a row, further crippling Venezuela's economy while increasing foreign influence from Russia, China and Cuba."
Former national security adviser John Bolton told Newsweek