International security

US military intervention on the table for Venezuela

A military intervention to oust Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro remains “a very serious option” for the United States, according to President Trump’s national security team.

“Obviously, that’s a result that no one would like to see but clearly one that is seriously considered as events unfold,” a senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters Friday evening.

President Trump’s team has wielded that threat to deter any attack by Maduro loyalists on Juan Guaidó, the opposition lawmaker whom the U.S. and other Western democracies recognized as Venezuela’s legitimate interim president in January. Maduro has defied that pressure by retaining control of the military and loyalty of "colectivos," the paramilitary gangs that blocked the U.S. delivery of humanitarian aid to the country in February.