Amidst escalating tensions and continuing U.S. crackdown on Venezuela, its drug cartels, speculation is rife of a regime change.
President Nicola Maduro has been allegedly associated with drug cartels as a result of which Venezuela despite having the largest oil reserves in the world has been living with uncertainty.
Meanwhile, Nobel Laureate Maria Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition politician who was barred from standing in last year’s presidential is being viewed as a replacement.
Maria is known for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.
Maria has called for greater US support to stop what she described as a “war” on her country by President Nicolás Maduro.
In an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Machado supported the Trump administration in calling Maduro the leader of a “criminal narco-terrorism structure” while asking US President Donald Trump for greater “help” in unseating him from power.
Maria also said that Trump “absolutely” deserved a Nobel Peace Prize of his own due to the “incredible events that are taking place currently in the world,” referring to Trump’s efforts to broker peace in the Middle East. It may be recalled that Maria dedicated her Nobel Peace Prize to Trump and called him after being awarded.
Meanwhile, the U.S. has deported hundreds of Venezuelans on being illegal immigrants and Maduro has welcomed their return.
The military build up around the Caribbean shows that Maduro is unlikely to hold fort for long.
US has stationed the world’s largest warship (USS Gerald R Ford) to be sent to the Caribbean.
The USS Gerald R Ford can carry up to 90 aircraft and its deployment marks a massive increase in US firepower in the region.
The US has conducted 10 air strikes on vessels in the area as part of what it says is a war on drug traffickers.
US President Donald Trump has accused Maduro of being the leader of a drug-trafficking organisation, which he denies, and there are fears in Venezuela that the US military build-up is aimed at removing the long-time opponent of Trump from power.
Trump has often spoken about the possibility of “land action” in Venezuela.
He said that the US was looking at land now, after getting “the sea very well under control”.
“We stopped all drugs from coming in by sea. I will stop all drugs from coming in by land very shortly. You’ll see that starting,” President Trump said before leaving for his ongoing Asia visit.