Support justice-driven, accurate and transparent news — make a quick donation to Truthout today!
After his latest coup attempt against the elected government of President Nicolás Maduro quickly fell flat, Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó on Saturday said he has moved to open “direct communications” with Pentagon officials with the goal of establishing greater military “coordination” with the United States.
According to the Associated Press, Guaidó announced during a rally Saturday that he has “instructed his political envoy in Washington to immediately open relations with the U.S. military in a bid to bring more pressure on President Nicolás Maduro to resign.”
“The leader said he’s asked Carlos Vecchio, who the U.S. recognizes as Venezuela’s ambassador, to open ‘direct communications’ toward possible military ‘coordination,'” AP reported. “The remarks … mark one of his strongest public pleas yet for greater U.S. involvement in the country’s fast-escalating crisis.”
Guaidó’s open call for direct U.S. military involvement in his coup effort comes after the opposition leader’s so-called “military uprising” against the Maduro government sparked chaos in the streets of Venezuela, but ultimately fizzled out after several days.
Trump administration officials, including Vice President Mike Pence and national security adviser John Bolton, enthusiastically backed the coup plotters while rejecting the characterization of Guaidó’s push to topple Venezuela’s elected government as a coup attempt.
As it became clear that Guaidó’s uprising would not succeed in ousting Maduro, White House officials intensified threats of U.S. military intervention, which progressive critics argue would have disastrous consequences for Venezuela and the region.
“The president has been crystal clear and incredibly consistent—military action is possible,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a Fox Business interview earlier this month. “In the event that there comes a moment—and we’ll all have to make decisions about when that moment is and the president will ultimately have to make that decision—he’s prepared to do that if that’s what’s required.”
A terrifying moment. We appeal for your support.
In the last weeks, we have witnessed an authoritarian assault on communities in Minnesota and across the nation.
The need for truthful, grassroots reporting is urgent at this cataclysmic historical moment. Yet, Trump-aligned billionaires and other allies have taken over many legacy media outlets — the culmination of a decades-long campaign to place control of the narrative into the hands of the political right.
We refuse to let Trump’s blatant propaganda machine go unchecked. Untethered to corporate ownership or advertisers, Truthout remains fearless in our reporting and our determination to use journalism as a tool for justice.
But we need your help just to fund our basic expenses. Over 80 percent of Truthout’s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors.
Truthout has launched a fundraiser to add 460 new monthly donors in the next 8 days. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger one-time gift, Truthout only works with your support.