Presidential Envoy for Special Missions, Richard Grenell, and Mercedes Schlapp at the CPAC event in Paraguay. Photo: CPAC.
Guacamaya, September 16, 2025. Ambassador Richard Grenell said on Tuesday that he believes that the United States and Venezuela can still reach a peaceful agreement and avoid war.
‘I’ve been to see Nicolás Maduro,’ said Grenell. ‘I’ve sat across from him, I’ve articulated the America First position, I understand what he wants. I believe that we can still have a deal, I believe in diplomacy. I believe in avoiding war.’
Grenell spoke in an interview with Mercedes Schlapp at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) event in Paraguay. He argued ‘I fundamentally believe that when the President of the United States is sitting at his or her desk at the Oval Office, that two strong voices should be in front of the President. One, from the Pentagon, who says “I don’t negotiate, you call me in when you’re ready to go to war.” On the other side, should be the “Secretary of Peace,” the State Department. That says, “we are not yet done negotiating.”’
The ambassador continued that ‘We need to have a very strong Secretary of State that is in conflict with the Secretary of War. Because the State Department is the Secretary of Peace. And when you have that, you have someone who is advocating for more government manoeuvring: sanctions, isolation, tariffs, there’s a whole bunch of tools that the U.S. government can do from the peaceful side, before we transfer the file to those who are ready and equipped to go to war.’
‘I am somebody as a diplomat who always wants to talk, I don’t believe that talking is weak,’ said Grenell. As Presidential Envoy for Special Missions, was involved in at least two negotiations to free wrongfully imprisoned U.S. citizens, and to restart repatriation flights for Venezuelan migrants.
In a previous CPAC event in Washington, DC, Grenell said that ‘Donald Trump is someone who doesn’t want to do regime change. He wants to do everything possible to make the American people stronger and more prosperous.’
