Maduro orders Venezuela military drill after Trump threat

Pence, on his first stop of a tour taking in Colombia, Argentina, Chile and Panama, said the United States intended to prevent Venezuela becoming a “failed state.”

“We will not stand by as Venezuela crumbles, but it’s important to note, as the president said, that a failed state in Venezuela threatens the security and prosperity of the hemisphere,” Pence told reporters in the Colombian city of Cartagena on Monday.

He told CNN that Venezuela risked becoming “a greater problem for narcotics traffic” and “greater migration” — both of which he said directly threatened the security and economy of the US.

– United condemnation –

Opponents of Maduro accuse him of seeking to consolidate power by packing a controversial new assembly with his allies as inflation spirals out of control and food shortages worsen.

The body has joined with the loyal supreme court to quash dissent and arrest opposition politicians.

But Trump’s threat of military action has united even Maduro’s enemies in condemnation.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, who has led criticism of Maduro, told Pence on his arrival “that the possibility of a military intervention shouldn’t even be considered.”

Former Venezuelan mayor and prominent opposition figure Ramon Muchacho said from exile in the United States that perhaps a US invasion was “inevitable.”

“The United States thinks Venezuela is a danger,” due to its ties to Iran, Russia and others, he said on CNN.

Many Latin American countries have bitter memories of past US adventures in the region. Those include invasions, gunboat diplomacy and the propping up of military dictators.

Even the Venezuelan opposition coalition on Sunday rejected “the use of force, or the threat of applying such force, by whatever country against Venezuela.”

Maduro, in a later televised event with various ambassadors stationed in Caracas, said he wanted a regional “closed-door presidential summit” to talk about Venezuela and Trump’s threat.

“The threat of war can only dissipate with dialogue,” he said.

Washington has already imposed unilateral sanctions on Maduro and nearly two dozen of his officials for what it sees as a shift to “dictatorship.”