US President Donald Trump has deployed thousands of US troops to the Caribbean and warned of strikes on Venezuelan soil.
On Wednesday, Trump announced the seizure of an oil tanker in enforcement of unilateral US sanctions.
How far could Trump go, and what would be the result?
What is the motivation?
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a leftist nemesis of the United States, successfully resisted an attempt during Trump’s first term to oust him through sanctions and diplomatic pressure.
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Days before Trump returned to office, Maduro was sworn in to a third six-year term despite international observers finding wide irregularities in last year’s election.
Trump has criticised democracy promotion as a goal and pursued a transactional approach to diplomacy, which he initially pursued with Maduro as well.
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But Secretary of State Marco Rubio, seeking to bring down the communist government in his ancestral Cuba – which benefits from Venezuelan oil – quickly led to a shift toward a more hawkish policy that includes unsubtle threats to remove Maduro.