Thousands of U.S. Marines are now some 15 miles off the shores of Venezuela, in one of the largest military buildups the region has ever seen.
As the military holds exercises in the region, President Trump is weighing his options, saying he’s open to talks with President Nicolas Maduro, but military action remains a possibility.
“I don’t rule that out or anything. We just have to take care of Venezuela,” he told reporters. “They dumped hundreds of thousands of people into our country from prisons.”
The world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, is now in the Caribbean as part of what’s being called the largest military presence there in decades.
It comes as the U.S. conducts airstrikes on alleged drug boats. The administration says it has so far destroyed over 20 vessels and killed more than 80 people.
The President says Maduro is responsible for the intervention.
“He’s done tremendous damage to our country, primarily because of drugs….so we’ll see what happens,” the President said.
Brad Bowman, senior director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told CBN’s Faith Nation why he believes President Trump is flexing America’s military might.
“The president, at a minimum, is trying to cast a shadow of power over the negotiating table to get concessions from the Maduro Regime, and he may be preparing for additional military action,” he explained.
“But it remains to be seen whether they will conduct strikes inside Venezuela, which would be both legally and politically a much more serious step than we’ve seen already with the interdiction of these drug boats,” Bowman added.
Venezuela’s government alleges the real reason behind the U.S. military force is regime change.
“I think what he’d like to do is get Maduro out, convince Maduro you’re done. You were illegitimate. You stole the election. You don’t belong there. You’re engaging in narcotics. You’ve caused a ruckus, so you should leave,” said Ret. Gen. Wesley Clark.
Meanwhile, Venezuela says it’s open to dialogue – even as Maduro ordered a massive military call-up of his own, with nearly 200.000 troops–while publicly calling for peace.
