U.S. envoy Abrams met secretly with Venezuela foreign minister: AP report

CARACAS (Reuters) - The U.S. special envoy for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, met secretly with Venezuela's foreign minister as recently as this week, the Associated Press reported on Thursday, citing President Nicolas Maduro and a senior Venezuelan official.

Washington has disavowed Maduro's government and backed opposition leader Juan Guaido, who last month invoked articles of the constitution to assume the presidency on promises to end a humanitarian crisis caused by an economic collapse.

Venezuela's foreign minister, Jorge Arreaza, met twice with Abrams in New York for several hours and invited him to come to Venezuela “privately, publicly or secretly,” Maduro said in an interview.

“If (Abrams) wants to meet, just tell me when, where and how and I'll be there,” the AP quoted Maduro saying.

The most recent meeting was on Monday, the AP reported, citing a senior Venezuelan official.

Abrams on Feb. 7 said that the time for dialogue with Maduro “has long passed,” except to negotiate his departure.

The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.