The U.S. is reportedly negotiating with several countries the possibility that they join its military deployment in the Caribbean, which the Trump administration claims is aimed at countering drug cartels in the region but has escalated tensions with Venezuela's authoritarian government.
Spanish outlet ABC News detailed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is leading negotiations, which also include Italy and the U.K. The outlet focused on the fact that Spain is not currently involved in such conversations, highlighting the relations that former president Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, a close aide of President Pedro Sanchez, has with the Maduro regime.
ABC News also noted that the French government has announced it will join the operation and is sending warships to Guadalupe, which it administers.
Overall, the U.S. sent eight warships to the Caribbean and Pacific in the region, which the Washington Post described as a "significant buildup for a region that has rarely seen such a large presence of U:S. military vessels."
Three destroyers, two landing dock ships, an amphibious assault ship, a cruiser and a littoral combat ship are already in the region or on their way. All destroyers carry detachments of the U.S. Coast Guard and law enforcement officials. The Navy didn't say where the vessels will be operating.
Another report by The Washington Post quotes a U.S. official saying that the deployment won't lead to military strikes in Venezuela. "Behind the scenes it's business as usual," the official told the outlet.
The Post also recalled that in an interview earlier this month Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said that the Trump administration was "very much against regime change in terms of the U.S. basically being the driver."
"I think you'll be seeing some more actions in the coming days and weeks that will be sending messages, but ultimately the Venezuelan people have to rise up and claim their own freedom," Landau added. "We can't go around the world changing governments at our whim."
Moreover, Geoff Ramsey, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said the White House won't jeopardize its energy interests or immigration priorities. He claimed that Maduro knows that "military action is not going to happen in the short term."
"There are some elements of the Venezuelan opposition that are really hopeful that the U.S. can provide a magical solution," Ramsey claimed. "I think that's ultimately off the table."
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