Trump administration officials maintained Monday that “all options” ― including the use of military force ― are on the table concerning its attempts to remove Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power. And if National Security Adviser John Bolton’s notebook is to be believed, deploying troops to the region may be closer to reality than not.
During a White House press briefing meant to detail new sanctions on Maduro and Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, Bolton was photographed holding a yellow legal pad that read, “5,000 troops to Colombia,” a country sharing a border with Venezuela.
The potential security breach was quickly spotted by observers on Twitter after an Associated Press picture from the briefing was published atop stories at NBC and other outlets….
The goings on in Venezuela ….
The rise of Juan Guaido from back-bench obscurity to the U.S-backed, self-declared interim president of Venezuela in just three weeks has been meteoric – and by his own recognition risky.
Few Venezuelans had even heard of the fresh-faced, 35-year-old lawmaker when he was plucked from anonymity and named as president of the opposition-controlled National Assembly in early January. The move set up a high-stakes standoff with President Nicolas Maduro, who is increasingly seen as a dictator both at home and abroad….