Pompeo Confirms Military Intervention in Venezuela Is an Option

By Staff, Agencies

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the Chilean broadcaster Mega TV that every single tool for what he described as US efforts in Venezuela remains on the table. He confirmed that military intervention is still an option amid the ongoing political crisis in which Washington has backed self-proclaimed president Juan Guaido and denounced Nicolas Maduro. 

Venezuela has been mired in a political crisis since January 2019 when Guaido proclaimed himself Venezuela's interim president.

The US has been Guaido’s vocal and financial supporter, trying to force elected president Nicolas Maduro to step down and criticizing China and Russia for backing him.

According to Pompeo “every single tool, every single option remains on the table” even though the Lima Group of Latin American countries has rejected such a scenario and the US lacks support for such a measure from the United Nations Security Council.

“We’ve made clear our goal is to convince Maduro it is time to leave. We’re going to leave every option on the table to use to achieve that objective”, he said, noting, however, that the “work is diligent to find a diplomatic, political resolution to save the people from Venezuela from the Cubans, the Russians, and this tyrant Nicolas Maduro”.

When he was asked if the end of this year is Washington’s deadline for Maduro to step down, Pompeo expressed hope that the legitimate Venezuelan president would leave “much sooner than that”. At the same time, he admitted that China and Russia’s support for Venezuela makes Maduro’s exit more difficult. He insisted that Russia “intervened without authority” without the “consent of the Venezuelan people” to support Maduro, whom he branded “the former leader of Venezuela”.