Former US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) head, retired Adm. James Stavridis said on Wednesday, the United States must avoid intervening militarily in Venezuela to resolve the crisis in that country.
“The United States should not engage militarily in the situation under the circumstances I see now,” Stavridis said at a conference on the US-Turkey defense cooperation and the NATO alliance in Washington, DC.
Stavridis noted that crisis in Venezuela has “no military solution” and it is a regional issue which all American countries have to solve together.
U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said on Monday that Trump had discussed with him the possibility of using military force in Venezuela a couple of weeks ago.
Earlier this week, the United States imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA in an attempt to curb President Nicolas Maduro’s financing of the military. The Venezuelan government, for its part, has started an investigation against Guaido, imposed a travel ban on him and frozen his assets, whiel Maduro accused Trump of ordering the Colombian mafia to assassinate him.
On January 23, the head of Venezuela’s National Assembly, Juan Guaido, declared himself interim president amid the ongoing anti-government protests. The United States, the countries of the Lima Group and a number of other countries, which disputed last year’s re-election of Maduro, recognized Guaido’s leadership.
Maduro has called Guaido a “US puppet”.
Russia, Cuba, China, Turkey and Iran have given Maduro’s government full support, with Maduro himself calling Venezuela “the victim of a US conspiracy”, referring to US Vice President Mike Pence promising Guaido “full American support” the day before he declared himself Venezuela’s new head of state.
Maduro also stressed that Venezuela had held legitimate elections and urged European countries to withdraw their demand.
