On one end of the line was Venezuela’s socialist president, the pariah leader of a disintegrating economy whom President Donald Trump’s administration was seeking to isolate. On the other end: the U.S. president’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and then-Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas. It is not clear why Giuliani became involved with the back-channel negotiations with Venezuela’s president or the extent of his role. That year, the Trump administration labeled Venezuela’s vice president a drug kingpin and froze his assets in the United States. Meanwhile, in Venezuela, Maduro won re-election in May with nearly 68 percent of the vote.

Source: National Post December 30, 2019 14:48 UTC