Under the orders of John Bolton, the Pentagon is busily developing new
military options for Venezuela, both for the imposition of regime
change, and more specifically for trying to deter either Russia or China from doing anything to help President Maduro.
While officials continue to insist “all options are on the table,”
Pentagon officials say that they are trying to come up with plans that
stop short of direct military invasion or any combat operations.
As with a lot of foreign policy cases, the administration’s appetite for
aggressive military intervention doesn’t necessarily extend to the
Pentagon leadership, and they are more inclined to try to focus on
increasing their regional presence instead of outright trying to conquer
Venezuela.
While Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused China of bankrolling Maduro
to prolong the crisis, Chinese officials fired back that Pompeo’s
comments were “irresponsible and utterly unjustifiable,” adding that
“lies are lies, even if you say it a thousand times, they are still
lies. Mr. Pompeo, you can stop.”
Pentagon Developing Military Options to Deter Russia and China in Venezuela
Bolton pushes Shanahan to develop more military options for Venezuela
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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