Venezuela’s opposition leader is in talks with the country’s military and civilian officials about the possibility of using military force to oust President Nicolas Maduro, according to a report in The Washington Post.
“This is a very delicate subject involving personal security. We are meeting with them, but discreetly,” Juan Guaido told the Post.
The report comes on the heels of an Axios post that said President Donald Trump mused about a military option with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
"He [Trump] said, 'What do you think about using military force?' and I said, 'Well, you need to go slow on that, that could be problematic.' And he said, 'Well, I'm surprised, you want to invade everybody.’” Graham told the outlet.
"And I said, 'I don't want to invade everybody, I only want to use the military when our national security interests are threatened,’” he added.
The U.S. last week backed Guaido, along with Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay and Peru. Criticism of Maduro has grown in recent years as his government has sidelined the National Assembly, held widely-questioned elections and overseen an economic crisis that has forced millions of Venezuelans to flee, mostly to other South American countries.