Maduro Reportedly Confident He Will Outlast Trump's Pressure Campaign Despite Recent Escalation

Venezuela's authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro, along with his inner circle, is confident he can outlast the pressure campaign carried out by the Trump administration despite recent escalations, according to a new report.

The Wall Street Journal detailed that recent televised appearances, which included images of Maduro dancing with supporters and strolling down Caracas, are a message to Washington that he is not planning to leave any time soon.

Moreover, the outlet cited people who have sat face to face with him and other high-ranking officials, saying that deals involving amnesty in exchange for relinquishing power are not attractive to Maduro. And he and his inner circle are also reluctant to leave because of international sanctions and criminal indictments.

In another passage of the piece, the WSJ noted that Maduro believes the U.S.'s campaign in the region is a big bluff. This is despite two tangible escalations aimed at removing him.

One is the blockade of sanctioned tankers, which has led the regime to shut oil wells as it runs out of storage facility.

Bloomberg detailed that Caracas is seeking to reduce production in the Orinoco Belt by at least 25% to half a million barrels a day. The figure amounts to 15% of the country's daily output of 1.1 million of barrels a day.

The plan, the outlet added, is shutting wells in the most extra-heavy crude division and then move to the rest. The decision appears to confirm that the Trump administration's strategy of putting pressure on the country's source of revenue is having an impact.

The other is a reported attack on what has been described as a remote dock in the Venezuelan coast believed to be used by the Tren de Aragua gang to load drugs onto vessels that would then journey through the Caribbean.

CNN cited sources with knowledge of the attack who said no one was present at the facility and there were no casualties. It added that Special Operations Forces provided intelligence support, but a spokesperson for the US Special Operations Command, Col. Allie Weiskopf, said that was not the case.

Trump acknowledged the strike on Monday but refused to disclose who was behind it. Speaking to press along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida on Monday, Trump was asked whether the U.S. military or the CIA had conducted the attack.

"Well, I don't want to say that. I know exactly who it was, but I don't want who it was. It was along the shore," Trump said.

Earlier, he claimed "there was a major explosion" in the "dock area where they load up the boats with drugs." "We hit the boats now we hit the implementation area. It's no longer around," Trump added.