U.S. moves put Venezuela on edge

Trump has ordered military buildup even as he says he's open to talks with Maduro.

- BY KATE LINTHICUM, PATRICK J. MCDONNELL AND MERY MOGOLLÓN

PASSENGERS arrive in Maiquetia, Venezuela. Several airlines have canceled flights due to tensions.

(JUAN BARRETO AFP/Getty Images)

On the face of it, the United States appears closer than ever to mounting a military campaign to remove President Nicolás Maduro from power in Venezuela.

President Trump says he has authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations inside the Caribbean nation, and has massed troops, fighter jets and warships just off its coastline.

U.S. service members in the region have been barred from taking Thanksgiving leave. Airlines have canceled flights to Venezuela after the Federal Aviation Administration warned of a "potentially hazardous situation" there. And on Monday the White House officially designated Maduro as a member of an international terrorist group.

In Caracas, the nation's capital, there is a palpable sense of anxiety, especially as each new bellicose pronouncement emerges from Washington.

"People are very tense," said Rosa María López, 47, a [See Venezuela, A4]

podiatrist and mother of two.

“Although no one says anything because they are afraid. ”Trump has been presented with a set of military options by the Pentagon, a source familiar with the matter told The Times, and is said to be weighing his options. Still, his plans for Venezuela remain opaque.

Trump, even while warning of a possible military action, has also continually floated the possibility of negotiations, saying he “probably would talk” to Maduro at some point.

“I don't rule out anything,” Trump said last week.

Now people in both the U.S. and Venezuela are wondering: Is the U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean the prelude to an invasion, or a bluff intended to pressure Maduro to make a deal?