A tense situation exists between our country and Venezuela. Over the past three months, about 15,000 U.S. troops and the world's largest aircraft carrier have moved within striking distance of the South American country. There also have been a series of deadly U.S. Navy airstrikes against small boats in the Caribbean, which the Trump administration says are aimed at drug smugglers. The buildup is intended to persuade Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, in power since 2013, to flee the country along with senior officials. He lost a 2024 election for a third term, but invalidated the outcome. Political opposition leader María Corina Machado, winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize, lives in hiding.

President Trump, who calls Maduro "one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world," reportedly has approved covert CIA plans in Venezuela that could pave the way for broader military actions, possibly including combat troops. "I don't rule that out," Trump said last week. "I don't rule out anything. We just have to take care of Venezuela."

The Pentagon is upgrading a long-abandoned naval base in Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory in the Caribbean that's about 500 miles north of Venezuela. The U.S. fleet offshore from that country has a nuclear submarine, destroyers with Tomahawk guided missiles and amphibious assault ships capable of landing thousands of troops. Aircraft carriers have supersonic F-35 stealth fighter jets. For his part, Maduro (pronounced mah-doo-ROH) has put his forces on high alert. Defensive preparations are visible in Caracas, the capital, and other areas.

As with any military campaign, risks are numerous and serious. "If the administration fails to oust Maduro, that will almost certainly grant the dictator a political victory and deal a lasting blow to the Venezuelan opposition," warns Phil Gunson, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, a nonprofit based in Belgium. And if he falls, "a potentially violent breakdown" of Venezuela could result as rival factions try to take over. A former CBS Evening News anchor, Dan Rather, last week suggested in a blog post that Trump may be "manufacturing a crisis that he can then fix, allowing him to flex and crow about taking down the leader of a small country. Or it could be just about commandeering Venezuela's oil."

U.S. says: "This is a very serious problem for the hemisphere and a very destabilizing one, and that has to be addressed. . . . We have no drug cooperation with the regime in Venezuela, primarily because they’re not legitimate and because they’re part of the drug operation." – Marco Rubio, secretary of state

Foreign policy analyst says: "The Trump administration's push for regime change in Venezuela . . . creates a potentially disastrous political trap." – Phil Gunson, senior analyst at International Crisis Group, a nonprofit based in Brussels, Belgium

Columnist says: "The serious question is whether American intervention would make things even worse. Intervention means war, and war means death." – Bret Stephens, The New York Times