Overview
- On Christmas Eve, Cardinal Pietro Parolin urgently met U.S. Ambassador Brian Burch to ask about Washington’s plans for Venezuela and to urge a negotiated way out for Nicolás Maduro.
- The Washington Post reports the account is drawn from confidential government documents detailing private Vatican–U.S. contacts.
- According to the documents, Parolin relayed that Russia was prepared to grant asylum to Maduro and appealed for U.S. patience to avoid bloodshed.
- In the days leading up to the meeting, Parolin repeatedly sought to reach U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to head off potential violence and destabilization.
- The Vatican press office criticized the disclosure of excerpts it says misrepresent the conversation, and there is no public confirmation of a coordinated U.S. plan emerging from these contacts.