Trump reportedly floated 'using military force' in Venezuela

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Trump reportedly floated 'using military force' in Venezuela

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Associated Press/Jacquelyn Martin

• President Donald Trump reportedly floated using "military force" in Venezuela to Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham in recent weeks.
• Graham told Axios he cautioned Trump the move could be "problematic."
• The US and several other countries recently recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the legitimate interim president over Nicolas Maduro.
• Speculation has been mounting ever since over the Trump administration's next moves in Venezuela.

President Donald Trump reportedly weighed using the "military option" in Venezuela in recent weeks, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told Axios on Sunday.

"He said, 'What do you think about using military force?'" Graham said. "And I said, 'Well, you need to go slow on that, that could be problematic.'"

Speculation has been mounting over the Trump administration's next moves in Venezuela, where the US and several other foreign countries have recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the legitimate interim president over Nicolas Maduro.

The acting White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney ,also hinted at the military option on Sunday, telling "Fox News Sunday" that Trump "is looking at this extraordinarily closely."

"I don't think any president of any party who is doing his or her job would be doing the job properly if they took anything off the table," Mulvaney said.

Trump has previously floated the option in public, saying in August 2017 that the US had "many options for Venezuela, including a possible military option."

Read more: Almost every country in Latin America sided with Trump against Venezuela's embattled President Maduro

Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters; Marco Bello/Reuters

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also pushed the United Nations Security Council on Saturday to "pick a side" on Venezuela and support Guaidó's transition until fair elections could be held.

"Now it is time for every other nation to pick a side," Pompeo said. "Either you stand with the forces of freedom, or you're in league with Maduro and his mayhem."

Maduro's tenure as president has seen crisis after crisis play out under his leadership, with food shortages and economic turmoil sparking hyperinflation and starvation, and prompting millions to flee the country.

Maduro was re-elected in May 2018, but critics have accused Venezuela of holding a fraudulent election. Guaidó then declared himself interim president on January 5, with the support of the country's National Assembly.

• Read more:
• Pompeo urged the United Nations to support Venezuela's ouster of Maduro to fix 'illegitimate mafia state'
• Trump is decrying Maduro's authoritarianism in Venezuela as he simultaneously embraces the region's newest strongman in Brazil
• Hawkish GOP veteran convicted during Iran-Contra affair picked to run Trump's Venezuela policy
• Inside the secret diplomacy that led the US and a coalition of Latin American governments to quickly recognize Juan Guaidó as Venezuela's interim president

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See Also:

• Trump is decrying Maduro's authoritarianism in Venezuela as he simultaneously embraces the region's newest strongman in Brazil
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via Business Insider https://read.bi/1IpULic

January 27, 2019 at 11:24PM