“The doors are open for him”

“Maduro was never our enemy or opponent. If I wanted to come to Belarus, our doors are always open to him”, he stated in an interview with the American channel Newsmax TV broadcast by the Belarusian state agency BELTA.

However, Lukashenko, considered the last dictator of Europeclarified that “this issue, honestly speaking, has never been addressed.”

“A decent, sensible man”

“Maduro is not the type of person who leaves everything and leaves, runs away. He is a tough guy. He is a ‘Chavista’, he is a tough guy like (former Venezuelan President Hugo) Chávez. A decent, sensible manwith whom you can talk and reach agreements,” he said.

Although he has acknowledged that word is spreading in the Belarusian media of an alleged agreement reached for Maduro to go into exile in Belarus, Lukashenko has clarified that “no“We have never spoken with Maduro about it.”

“Honestly speaking, we talk more about Venezuela with the Americans than with Maduro about his resignation. He is a man courageous“he added.

Lukashenko has also taken the opportunity to reject the accusations made by the president of the United States, Donald Trump, that link Maduro with drug trafficking and noted that the Americans “They have no proof of this, and neither do I. I think that’s not the case.”

“Drugs, like many other things such as human trafficking, prostitution, (illegal trafficking in) weapons, are part of our reality. We must confront them. But You can’t beat drugs with missiles“he warned.

He asserted that the drug problem is global and “we must look for new methods” to confront this. “We must reflect and not war,” he said.

He criticized the United States’ decision not to recognize the presidential elections in Venezuela and warned that if the United States attacks the Caribbean nation, the Venezuelan people will consolidate around the figure of Maduro. “It is something that cannot be done in any case,” he said.

He commented that the non-recognition of elections in third countries by the United States is a common practice and recalled that during Joe Biden’s presidency “you did not recognize any elections.”

Lukashenko and Cole held consultations last weekend, after which Minsk agreed to pardon 123 prisoners, including the main opposition leaders, in exchange for lifting of sanctions on Belarusian potassium.

The United States Government does not recognize Maduro’s legitimacy in Venezuela and accuses him of leading the Cartel of the Suns, an alleged group linked to drug trafficking, although Venezuelan officials such as the Minister of the Interior, Diosdado Cabello, consider that this is an “invention.”

Venezuela, in response, has been in permanent military mobilization throughout its territory for months. The US naval deployment is the largest in the history of the North American country since the first Persian Gulf War (1990-1991), according to a study by experts from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).