President Donald Trump’s recent statement on Venezuela could signal a new and worrying phase in relations between the United States and the South American country. According to Mário Braga, Latin America specialist at Rane, the American leader’s statement strongly indicates the possibility of air attacks on Venezuelan territory.
During his participation in the WWBraga explained that it appears to be “another step in this escalation of pressure that Washington has been putting on Caracas.” The expert detailed that these possible attacks could target both bases linked to drug trafficking and Venezuelan military installations, considering that “part of the Venezuelan armed forces are involved in illicit activities, including trafficking, especially cocaine.”
History of economic sanctions
The expert recalled that this would not be the first attempt by the United States to financially suffocate the Venezuelan regime. “In the first term, in Trump’s first administration, he had already imposed financial sanctions, isolating Venezuela from the financial market, also on some sectors of the Venezuelan economy”, explained Braga.
American strategy has followed a clear progression. At the beginning of this year, there was the . Subsequently, a more restricted license was granted to Chevron to resume activities, but with the condition that it not make payments in kind to the Venezuelan government.
All of these measures, according to Braga, have a common objective: to restrict the financial resources used by Nicolás Maduro to maintain support for the Armed Forces, considered a fundamental pillar of . The possibility of air strikes would therefore represent a significant escalation in American pressure against the Venezuelan government, moving from economic sanctions to potential direct military intervention.
