Unites States President Donald Trump has revealed that he talked to the Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on a phone call amid rising tensions between two countries.
According to CNN, after Trump confirmed a phone call with Maduro the Venezuelan president made a long-awaited public appearance on Sunday, November 30, ending all the fleeing speculations.
Maduro, who usually appears on Venezuelan television multiple times a week, had not been seen in public since Wednesday, when he posted a video of himself driving around Caracas on his Telegram channel, leading to intense speculation as to his whereabouts.
On Sunday, he appeared at an annual specialty-coffee awards event in eastern Caracas.
In images that were broadcast online, the president sat before a crowd and handed out medals to coffee producers showcasing their top products. He sipped various coffees while delivering brief remarks, none of which openly addressed the current crisis in the country.
At the end of the event, he chanted that Venezuela is “indestructible, untouchable, unbeatable” while speaking about the nation’s economy.
The remarks appeared to be a nod to the tensions with the US, which has sent more than a dozen warships and deployed roughly 15,000 troops to the region as part of what it says is an effort to combat drug trafficking, but Caracas believes is an attempt to force Maduro from office.
Maduro’s appearance at the coffee awards event came just moments after US President Donald Trump confirmed he had spoken with the Venezuelan leader on the phone.
“I don’t want to comment on that, the answer is yes,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One when asked whether the call had taken place. “I wouldn’t say it went well or badly. It was a phone call.”
