U.S. Rules out Negotiation with Venezuela's Maduro as Opposition Seeks Military Cooperation

The United States for now has ruled out holding any negotiations with Nicolás Maduro and instead is focused on how to orchestrate a “dignified exit” for the Venezuelan leader after an opposition uprising and a series of sanctions failed to oust him from power.

“We have been very clear that negotiations with Maduro are not possible,” a senior State Department official told the Miami Herald...

Seeking Southern Command’s support, as well as a parallel effort to join the so-called Rio Treaty — an inter-American defense agreement — illustrate that the Venezuelan opposition is “extremely frustrated at this point and they are willing to try everything that could work,” said Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue.

“They are trying every path because they are not content with losing momentum,” said Eric Farnsworth, a former State Department official and current vice president of the Council of the Americas and Americas Society.

The opposition’s overture to the U.S. military “tries to put Maduro on the defensive and take at face value what the administration has said about all options being on the table,” said Farnsworth. “By seeking to operationalize the threat, it becomes a possibility. They’re trying to put substance behind the rhetoric and show Maduro this is a serious effort.”...

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