Another Trump Turnaround –on Venezuela -- but this Time not Bad!

Trump just announced, “We may be having some discussions with Maduro, and we’ll see how that turns out.” Just about two weeks ago, Trump deauthorized Richard Grenell, who was his special envoy who said that no military incursion was being planned and that talks with Maduro were continuing. Now Trump says he’d like to continue talks with Maduro, even though Maduro all along has publicly indicated that he is open to talks and negotiations.

I’m hesitant to criticize Trump for being so capricious since I very much hope that this represents a new line and a new approach which would result in the withdrawal of U.S. the naval presence just 100 miles from the Venezuelan coast and the presence of the USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier within striking distance of Venezuela. It may be that Trump’s strategy all along was to attempt to intimidate Maduro and the Venezuelan armed forces and since that didn’t work, Trump is going into a new gear, that is he’s downshifting. Hope that’s the case. If it is, it demonstrates how effective Maduro has been in facing a dismaying challenge by mobilizing Venezuela militarily and politically and calling on people throughout the region to support the defense of Venezuela's national sovereignty. Regardless of what people think of Maduro, the effectiveness of this response and his leadership capacity in this context have to be recognized.