by Marc Caputo at Axios
President Trump has told his advisers he’s planning to speak directly with Nicolas Maduro, even as the U.S. designated the Venezuela president Monday as the head of a terrorist organization, administration officials tell Axios.
Why it matters: Trump’s decision is an important milestone in his gunboat diplomacy aimed at Venezuela — and could be a sign that U.S. missile strikes or direct military action on land are not imminent, those sources say.
- “Nobody is planning to go in and shoot him or snatch him — at this point. I wouldn’t say never, but that’s not the plan right now,” according to one official familiar with the discussions.
- “In the meantime, we’re going to blow up boats shipping drugs. We’re going to stop the drug trafficking.”
- At least 83 people have been killed in 21 separate missile strikes on boats that allegedly were carrying drugs during the U.S. military action in the Caribbean known as “Operation Southern Spear.”
Driving the news: Word of Trump’s interest in talking coincides with the State Department’s decision Monday to label an alleged drug cartel in Venezuela as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization,” which provides the U.S. more of a pretext to take military action in and around the South American nation.
- Also Monday, Gen. Dan Caine — the military brains behind Southern Spear — visited Puerto Rico, where as many as 10,000 troops, sailors and pilots are stationed.
The big picture: Officially,…
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