{"id":74187,"date":"2019-05-01T18:30:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-01T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/05\/01\/despite-trumps-tough-talk-on-venezuela-no-marching-orders-yet-given\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:11:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:11:06","slug":"despite-trumps-tough-talk-on-venezuela-no-marching-orders-yet-given","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/05\/01\/despite-trumps-tough-talk-on-venezuela-no-marching-orders-yet-given\/","title":{"rendered":"Despite Trump\u2019s tough talk on Venezuela, no marching orders yet given"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A day after an unsuccessful coup attempt in Venezuela, senior U.S. government officials say U.S. military force<\/a> is available if that\u2019s what it takes to restore democracy <\/a>there. But the Pentagon says it has not received any orders to prepare war plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked during a congressional hearing Wednesday if the Pentagon was given instructions to prepare for war in Venezuela<\/a>, a top official said \u201cno,” though one former senior CIA analyst expressed skepticism and military officials added that they always have contingencies prepared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe of course always review available options and plan for contingencies. But in this case, we have not been given the sort of orders that you\u2019re discussing, no,” said Kathryn Wheelbarger, acting assistant defense secretary for international security affairs. \u201cIn terms of Russian and Chinese influence<\/a> at large in the region, we\u2019re very focused on countering that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adm. Craig S. Faller, who helms U.S. Southern Command<\/a>, had a message for the Venezuelan security forces: \u201cCuba and Russia have invaded your country and disgraced your sovereignty. You have a chance to do the right thing and alleviate the suffering of your people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Our job is to be ready, and we\u2019re on the balls of our feet,\u201d Faller said, adding that the president has been clear that all options are on the table. \u201cThe details of what that might look like I will take in a closed session.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Countering that Cuban and Russian influence is currently confined to the information and intelligence space, as well as security cooperation with local allies, Faller said. If the Venezuelan people overthrow Maduro, the U.S. military is poised to provide \u201cmil-to-mil\u201d training to strengthen their security posture in the aftermath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A \u201ccomplete embargo” of Cuba is also possible, as the country is central in \u201call things bad in this hemisphere,\u201d Faller added. \u201cWe\u2019re carefully looking at plans and what it would take to do that,\u201d but would not going into further detail in an open forum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Venezuela has been sliding into increased violence under the authority of Nicolas Maduro, who President Donald Trump calls illegitimate. The U.S. and its international partners are instead backing opposition leader Juan Guaid\u00f3, who called for a military uprising on Tuesday. Only a small group of soldiers broke ranks, however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThings have changed significantly with the utter failure of yesterday\u2019s coup,\u201d said Fulton T. Armstrong, a former senior CIA analyst, National Intelligence Officer for Latin America and National Security Council staffer. \u201cWhat options does the Trump administration have left? And the rhetoric is over the top.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf course, the military planning has already been done, and they\u2019ve already identified how many days they would need to prepare and execute each option,” Armstrong said. “The planners know what the intel packages look like. They\u2019re really quite sophisticated. It\u2019s a push-button sort of thing: when they get the order boom, boom, boom, things happen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t