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.”
Angry, shocked, overwhelmed? Take action: Support independent media.
We’ve borne witness to a chaotic first few months in Trump’s presidency.
Over the last months, each executive order has delivered shock and bewilderment — a core part of a strategy to make the right-wing turn feel inevitable and overwhelming. But, as organizer Sandra Avalos implored us to remember in Truthout last November, “Together, we are more powerful than Trump.”
Indeed, the Trump administration is pushing through executive orders, but — as we’ve reported at Truthout — many are in legal limbo and face court challenges from unions and civil rights groups. Efforts to quash anti-racist teaching and DEI programs are stalled by education faculty, staff, and students refusing to comply. And communities across the country are coming together to raise the alarm on ICE raids, inform neighbors of their civil rights, and protect each other in moving shows of solidarity.
It will be a long fight ahead. And as nonprofit movement media, Truthout plans to be there documenting and uplifting resistance.
As we undertake this life-sustaining work, we appeal for your support. Our fundraiser ends at midnight tonight! We still need 200 new monthly donors to hit our goal. Please, if you find value in what we do, join our community of sustainers by making a monthly or one-time gift.