Maduro tells Trump: "We are ready to talk"

President Nicolas Maduro announced on Thursday that he is ready for top-level talks with Washington, calling U.S. policies on Venezuela "failures". In a rally to celebrate the 62nd anniversary of the fall of the dictatorship in Venezuela, Maduro hit out at the U.S. Secretary State Mike Pompeo and had a message for President Donald Trump that Caracas is "ready to talk". Oil exporter Venezuela is suffering an economic collapse and hyperinflation under the leadership of President Nicolas Maduro.

Maduro blames U.S. sanctions for the suffering and has resisted international calls for early presidential elections. opposition leader Juan Guaido is on a tour of Europe to lobby the European Union to increase pressure Maduro for transparent elections.