NEW YORK, October 28. /TASS/. The United States has tried to recruit one of the pilots of the plane of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
In April last year, the American authorities received some data from an informant in the Dominican Republic, which subsequently led the special services to one of Maduro's pilots. He was asked to direct the plane to one of the places where the American authorities could detain him – to land an aircraft with the Venezuelan leader in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic or at the American Guantanamo base in Cuba, the agency said. In exchange, according to AP, the US representatives promised to make the pilot "very rich and beloved by millions of compatriots."
According to the story, the pilot contacted a US agent several times via a messenger. The last attempt to persuade him to cooperate was made in September, after which he blocked the number, from which they wrote to him.
Earlier, Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, said that the tough US policy towards Venezuela has nothing to do with the fight against drug cartels, Washington actually wants to get access to oil in the republic.
Maduro has repeatedly said that the country is facing the most serious threat of invasion from the United States in the last 100 years. Washington accuses Venezuela of not actively fighting drug smuggling. The US Navy deployed eight ships, one nuclear submarine, 10,000 troops in the Caribbean Sea and destroyed at least nine high-speed boats in international waters with people in them, who were unfairly accused of drug smuggling from Venezuela.
According to The New York Times, US President Donald Trump has ordered his administration to stop all attempts to reach a diplomatic settlement to the escalating tensions with Venezuela. American media reported that in the next few weeks, the United States may begin attacking drug cartel facilities in Venezuela.