Trump says sending military to Venezuela to increase pressure on Maduro is 'an option'

• President Donald Trump said Sunday that sending the military to Venezuela was "an option" to increase pressure on socialist leader Nicolas Maduro to hand over power.
• The United States, Canada and several Latin American countries have disavowed Maduro over his disputed re-election last year and recognize opposition leader and self-proclaimed President Juan Guaido as the rightful leader.
• Tens of thousands of people thronged the streets of various Venezuelan cities over the weekend to push for Guaido's takeover.

US President Donald Trump said that sending the military to Venezuela was "an option" as Western nations boost pressure on socialist leader Nicolas Maduro to hand over power to opposition leader and self-proclaimed President Juan Guaido.

The United States, Canada and several Latin American countries have disavowed Maduro over his disputed re-election last year and recognize Guaido as the rightful leader of the economically troubled OPEC nation.

Maduro however still maintains the powerful backing of Russia, China and Turkey, whose foreign minister said on Sunday that Western meddling was fueling Venezuela's troubles and punishing millions of its people.

In an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Trump reiterated that military intervention was a possibility.

"Certainly, it's something that's on the - it's an option," Trump said, adding that Maduro requested a meeting months ago.

"I've turned it down because we're very far along in the process," he said on a CBS "Face the Nation" interview. "So, I think the process is playing out - very, very big tremendous protests."

Growing pressure

Tens of thousands of people thronged the streets of various Venezuelan cities on Saturday to protest his government and a senior air force general recognized interim-chief Guaido.

France and Austria said on Sunday they would recognize Guaido if Maduro did not respond to the European Union's call for a free and fair presidential election by Sunday night.

The Trump administration last week issued crippling sanctions that are likely to further weaken the country's struggling oil industry.

While that could weaken Maduro, it risks also exacerbating Venezuela's economic collapse. Venezuela is suffering medicine shortages, malnutrition and hyperinflation that has prompted millions to emigrate in recent years.

Venezuela's ambassador to Iraq, Jonathan Velasco, became the latest of a handful of officials to defect from Maduro's government this weekend in a video published on social media on Saturday.

Guaido told his supporters in a major rally in Caracas on Saturday that he would on Sunday announce when they would seek to bring in international humanitarian aid from Colombia, Brazil and a Caribbean island.

It is unclear whether Maduro's government, which denies the country is suffering a humanitarian crisis, will let any foreign aid through.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told countries at the United Nations earlier this month to "pick a side" on Venezuela, urging them to back Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido and calling for free and fair elections as soon as possible.

"Now it is time for every other nation to pick a side ... Either you stand with the forces of freedom, or you're in league with Maduro and his mayhem," Pompeo told the council, later referring to the country as an "illegitimate mafia state."

Guaido, who took the helm of the National Assembly on Jan. 5, proclaimed himself interim president though Maduro, who has led the oil-rich nation since 2013 and has the support of the armed forces, has refused to stand down.

Maduro cruised to re-election in May last year amid low turnout and allegations of vote-buying by the government. The domestic opposition, the United States and right-leaning Latin American governments declined to recognize the result of the vote.

Under Maduro, Venezuela has sunk into turmoil with food shortages and daily protests amid an economic and political crisis that has sparked mass emigration and inflation that is seen rising to 10 million percent this year.

(Reuter reporting by Lucia Mutikani and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)