On the face of it, the United States appears closer than ever to mounting a military campaign to remove President Nicolas Maduro from power in Venezuela.
Advertisement
US President Donald Trump says he has authorised the CIA to conduct covert operations inside the Caribbean nation, and has massed troops, fighter jets and warships just off its coastline.
US service members in the region have been barred from taking Thanksgiving leave. Airlines have cancelled flights to Venezuela after the Federal Aviation Administration warned of a “potentially hazardous situation” there. And on Monday the White House officially designated Maduro as a member of an international terrorist group.
In Caracas, the nation’s capital, there is a palpable sense of anxiety, especially as each new bellicose pronouncement emerges from Washington.
“People are very tense,” said Rosa Maria Lopez, 47, a podiatrist and mother of two. “Although no one says anything because they are afraid.”
Advertisement