President Donald Trump’s administration is putting increasing military pressure on the Venezuelan government of Nicolás Maduro, sending an unmistakable signal that the United States wishes to see the Venezuelan strongman ousted.
The Trump administration has put a $50 million bounty on Maduro’s head, killed scores of people in airstrikes on boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, moved naval and aerial assets into the region, and authorized covert action while considering land strikes inside Venezuela. In a recent interview, Trump told 60 Minutes that Maduro’s days are numbered.
This is more than “gunboat diplomacy,” not least because the Trump administration’s demands appear to be unconditional and uninterested in diplomacy. Maduro already offered Trump preferential deals on his nation’s oil wealth—the largest proven reserves in the world—and reportedly even floated a voluntary transition out of power in three years.
While the Trump administration had initially been negotiating successfully with Maduro through Special Envoy Rick Grenell, the balance of power within the White House has shifted in favor of Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio. The son of Cuban emigres from Florida and a well-known hawk, Rubio has long favored violent regime change in Caracas.
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