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The Trump administration has reportedly met with Venezuelan opposition leaders over the past year to discuss plans to oust President Nicolás Maduro, according to US officials and a former Venezuelan military commander involved. The New York Times reported Saturday.
A current and former US official then confirmed the report to CNN.
There have been at least three meetings between US and Venezuelan military officials since last autumn. In the end, the United States did not help the rebel leaders and the coup did not take place.
One of the Venezuelan military commanders who reportedly took part in the talks also has a controversial past. The unidentified man is on the US government's sanctions list because of his corruption deals in the South American country, according to The temperature.
The Venezuelan military commander, along with other members of his opposition, have been accused by the US government of torturing opponents, detaining hundreds of political prisoners, wounding thousands of civilians, smuggling drugs and working with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), The temperature reported. The United States currently considers the FARC to be a terrorist organization.
Talks between Trump administration officials and Venezuelan military opposition members reportedly failed after dozens of arrests took place in Venezuela, resulting in a coup to oust Maduro, which never materialized , The temperature reported.
The White House did not answer questions asked by The temperaturebut said in a statement that it was important for the administration to engage in a "dialogue with all Venezuelans who show a desire for democracy" to "bring positive change to a country that has suffered so much under Maduro".
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Under Maduro's authoritarian regime, Venezuelans faced an economic crisis and high crime rates as people continue to protest.
Inflation seized the country as a result of an economic meltdown in 2014, making the currency almost worthless. The International Monetary Fund predicts that inflation will reach one million by the end of the year.
In August, President Donald Trump said that the United States "can certainly continue their military action." I will not rule out a military option, "added Trump.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, a longtime critic of Maduro, echoed these comments in late August.
"For months and years, I wanted the solution in Venezuela to be a non-military and peaceful solution, simply to restore democracy," Rubio said. "I believe the US armed forces are only used when there is a threat to national security. I think it's possible to make a very strong argument right now, that Venezuela and the Maduro regime have become a threat to the region and even to the United States. "
Detractors of military action, former members of the National Security Council and others have advised against such actions.
Geoff Ramsey, deputy director of the Americas human rights advocacy program in Venezuela, known as WOLA, said: Newsweek Earlier this month, he thought that military action was not the answer. It is a complex crisis that he believed that military action could derail any diplomatic progress already in place.
"The idea that the Venezuelan crisis is a threat to national security is not a position shared by the majority of Venezuelans or even among the leaders of the Venezuelan opposition itself," he said. Ramsey. "The solution must be a combination of the current international strategy of matching multilateral pressures on the Venezuelan government through sanctions … associated with a commitment that leads to fair elections."
Trump himself was compared to Maduro.
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