Overview
- The Washington Post reports Cardinal Pietro Parolin met U.S. Ambassador Brian Burch on December 24 to press for a negotiated exit for Nicolás Maduro.
- Documents cited by the paper say Parolin conveyed that Moscow was prepared to grant asylum with security guarantees from Vladimir Putin and protection for Maduro’s assets.
- Other potential destinations reportedly included Qatar and Turkey, with proposals that could extend protections to members of Maduro’s inner circle.
- Maduro rejected the offers, and on January 3 a U.S. operation captured him and his wife, Cilia Flores, transferring them to New York to face narcoterrorism charges.
- Following publication of the talks, the Vatican said it was disappointed by the disclosure of confidential discussions and stated the excerpts did not accurately reflect the conversations, while the documents also recount Parolin relaying a “rumor” of Russia trading its Venezuela stance for Ukraine concessions.