WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is holding direct communications with members of Venezuela's military urging them to abandon leader Nicolas Maduro and is also preparing new sanctions aimed at increasing pressure on him, a senior White House official said.

The Trump administration expects further military defections from Maduro's side, the official told Reuters in an interview, despite only a few senior officers having done so since opposition leader Juan Guaido proclaimed himself interim president last month, earning the recognition of the United States and dozens of other countries.

"We believe these to be those first couple pebbles before we start really seeing bigger rocks rolling down the hill," the official said this week, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We're still having conversations with members of the former Maduro regime, with military members, although those conversations are very, very limited."

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on a military vehicle during a military exercise in Puerto Cabello, January 27, 2019. Milaflores Palace/Handout via REUTERS

The official declined to provide details on the discussions or the level at which they are being held, and it was unclear whether such contacts could create cracks in the Venezuelan socialist leader's support from the military, which is pivotal to his grip on power.

With the Venezuelan military still apparently loyal to Maduro, a source in Washington close to the opposition expressed doubts whether the Trump administration has laid enough groundwork to spur a wider mutiny in the ranks where many officers are suspected of benefiting from corruption and drug trafficking.

Guaido says the May 2018 vote in which Maduro won a second term as president was a sham and on Jan. 23 invoked a constitutional provision to declare himself president, promising free and fair elections.

An anti-government protester covers himself with a shield during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro's government, in Caracas June 4, 2014. Christian Veron/Reuters

The US government also sees European allies as likely to do more to prevent Maduro from transferring or hiding Venezuelan government assets held outside the country, the US official said.

Major European countries have joined the United States in backing Guaido but they have stopped short of the sweeping oil sanctions and financial measures that Washington has imposed.

At the same time, the Trump administration is readying further possible sanctions on Venezuela, the official said.

Previous rounds have targeted dozens of Venezuelan military and government officials, including Maduro himself, and last month finally hit the OPEC member's vital oil sector. But the administration has stopped short of imposing so-called "secondary" sanctions, which would punish non-US companies for doing business with the Venezuelan government or the state oil monopoly PDVSA.

The US official said that Washington had every tool available to apply pressure on Maduro and his associates "to accept a legitimate democratic transition."

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro at a pro-government rally with workers of state-run oil company PDVSA in Caracas, June 22, 2016. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

The US government is also weighing possible sanctions on Cuban military and intelligence officials whom it says are helping Maduro remain in power, a second US official and person familiar with the deliberations have told Reuters.

Maduro's government has accused Guaido, who has galvanized Venezuela's opposition, of attempting to stage a US-directed coup.

General Francisco Yanez of the air force's high command became the first active Venezuelan general to recognize Guaido, but he is one of about 2,000 generals. Venezuela's chief military attache to the United States also said he was defecting late last month.

Guaido has actively courted members of the military with promises of amnesty and preferential legal treatment if they disavow Maduro and disobey his orders, and Washington this week raised the prospect of dropping sanctions on senior Venezuelan officers if they recognize Guaido.

Maduro still has the support of the military high command, and now routinely appears in pre-recorded events at military bases where officers stand behind him and chant triumphal slogans such as "Loyal always, traitors never." </s> MOSCOW (Reuters) - A top Russian security official on Tuesday accused the United States of deploying forces in Puerto Rico and Colombia in preparation for a military intervention in Venezuela to topple Moscow's ally, President Nicolas Maduro.

Venezuela, which has been plunged into political turmoil, was rocked by violent clashes at the weekend. The United States and a raft of other countries have backed the country's opposition, while China and Russia have stood by Maduro's government.

"... The United States is preparing a military invasion of an independent state," Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council, was quoted as saying in an interview with weekly newspaper Argumenty i Fakty.

"The transfer of American special operations forces to Puerto Rico, the landing of U.S. forces in Colombia and other facts indicate the Pentagon is reinforcing its troops in the region in order to use them in an operation to remove ... Maduro from power."

Patrushev said in the interview that Washington had asked Moscow for consultations on Venezuela and that Russia had agreed, but that U.S. officials had repeatedly postponed them under false pretexts.

When asked on Tuesday if Washington was preparing to take military action in Venezuela, the U.S. special envoy for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, responded: "No."

"The president has said all options are on the table. Presidents always say that and rightly so. But it ill behooves the Russians to talk about military intervention after they have dismembered both Georgia and Ukraine," Abrams told reporters at the United Nations ahead of a Security Council meeting on Venezuela.

U.S. officials have previously dismissed Russian allegations about U.S. plans for Venezuela as baseless "propaganda".

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.

Firstpost is now on WhatsApp. For the latest analysis, commentary and news updates, sign up for our WhatsApp services. Just go to Firstpost.com/Whatsapp and hit the Subscribe button. </s> WASHINGTON: The United States is holding direct communications with members of Venezuela’s military urging them to abandon President Nicolas Maduro and is also preparing new sanctions aimed at increasing pressure on him, a senior White House official said.

The Trump administration expects further military defections from Maduro’s side, the official told Reuters in an interview, despite only a few senior officers having done so since opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president last month, earning the recognition of the United States and dozens of other countries.

“We believe these to be those first couple pebbles before we start really seeing bigger rocks rolling down the hill,” the official said this week, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We’re still having conversations with members of the former Maduro regime, with military members, although those conversations are very, very limited.”

The official declined to provide details on the discussions or the level at which they are being held, and it was unclear whether such contacts could create cracks in the Venezuelan socialist leader’s support from the military, which is pivotal to his grip on power.

Read More: Venezuela’s Guaido: ‘We will do what is necessary’

With the Venezuelan military still apparently loyal to Maduro, a source in Washington close to the opposition expressed doubts whether the Trump administration has laid enough groundwork to spur a wider mutiny in the ranks where many officers are suspected of benefiting from corruption and drug trafficking.

Members of the South American country’s security forces fear they or their families could be targeted by Maduro if they defect, so the U.S. would need to offer them something that could outweigh those concerns, said Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Council of the Americas think tank in Washington.

“It depends on what they’re offering,” Farnsworth said. “Are there incentives built into these contacts that will at least cause people to question their loyalty to the regime?”

Guaido says the May 2018 vote in which Maduro won a second term as president was a sham and on Jan. 23 invoked a constitutional provision to declare himself president, promising free and fair elections.

The U.S. government also sees European allies as likely to do more to prevent Maduro from transferring or hiding Venezuela government assets held outside the country, the U.S. official said.

Major European countries have joined the United States in backing Guaido but they have stopped short of the sweeping oil sanctions and financial measures that Washington has imposed.

At the same time, the Trump administration is readying further possible sanctions on Venezuela, the official said.

Previous rounds have targeted dozens of Venezuelan military and government officials, including Maduro himself, and last month finally hit the OPEC member’s vital oil sector.

But the administration has stopped short of imposing so-called “secondary” sanctions, which would punish non-U.S. companies for doing business with the Venezuela government or the state oil monopoly PDVSA.

Read More: Protesters in UK ask Bank of England to return Venezuela’s gold

The U.S. official said that Washington had every tool available to apply pressure on Maduro and his associates “to accept a legitimate democratic transition.”

The U.S. government is also weighing possible sanctions on Cuban military and intelligence officials whom it says are helping Maduro remain in power, a second U.S. official and person familiar with the deliberations have told Reuters.

Maduro’s government has accused Guaido, who has galvanised Venezuela’s opposition, of attempting to stage a U.S.-directed coup.

General Francisco Yanez of the air force’s high command became the first active Venezuelan general to recognise Guaido, but he is one of about 2,000 generals. Venezuela’s chief military attache to the United States also said he was defecting late last month.

Guaido has actively courted members of the military with promises of amnesty and preferential legal treatment if they disavow Maduro and disobey his orders, and Washington this week raised the prospect of dropping sanctions on senior Venezuelan officers if they recognise Guaido.

Maduro still has the support of the military high command, and now routinely appears in pre-recorded events at military bases where officers stand behind him and chant triumphal slogans such as “Loyal always, traitors never.” </s> WASHINGTON, Aug 2 (Reuters) - U.S. national security adviser John Bolton and U.S. Secretary Wilbur Ross will speak at a conference on Venezuela in Peru next week as part of a campaign to force President Nicolas Maduro to relinquish power, a senior U.S. official said on Friday.

The Tuesday meeting will be a strong show of support for Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido from the more than 50 countries that have recognized him as the rightful president of Venezuela, said the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity.

In his presentation, Ross will give attendees details on a post-Maduro reconstruction plan for Venezuela. "We plan to attend and have a big presence," the official said.

Peru had proposed the meeting as a way to build support for early elections in Venezuela, and wanted Maduro's allies such as Russia, China, Cuba, Bolivia and Turkey to take part.

But none of those countries are expected to attend, the U.S. official said.

Washington considers Maduro a dictator who stole last year's election and has slapped a series of escalating sanctions on Venezuela to pressure him to step down. Maduro has refused and vows to resist what he describes as U.S. imperialism.

On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was considering a blockade of Venezuela. His administration has so far focused on diplomatic and economic pressure against Maduro while steering clear of any military action.

Asked about Trump's comments on Thursday, the senior administration official declined to give details.

"I would take the president at his word and I would take his word very seriously," the official said, noting the administration did not want to give away "the element of surprise."

The official said Trump's warning should have the effect of pushing Maduro to take ongoing talks with the opposition in Barbados more seriously. "He has a short window to find an exit strategy," the official said.

Norway, which is mediating the Barbados talks, said on Friday that Maduro's government and the opposition have reiterated their willingness to continue negotiating to find a solution.

Asked whether the White House would consider protecting Venezuelans in the United States from deportation - a measure known as "temporary protected status" - the official said the administration was committed to ensuring no Venezuelan at risk of persecution would be deported, regardless of whether the TPS program is used. </s> CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The latest on the political crisis in Venezuela (all times local):

The Mexican government says it disagrees with a map displayed by the White House that shows Mexico among those countries that support Venezuela's embattled president, Nicolas Maduro.

National security adviser John Bolton held a press briefing Monday with a map that showed in red the countries supporting Maduro and in blue those nations supporting the Venezuelan congress leader Juan Guaido, who has declared himself Venezuela's interim president.

Mexico's ambassador to the U.S. told reporters in Washington that her government isn't taking sides in the crisis.

In Ambassador Martha Barcena's words: "We are not against the U.S. regarding the position on Venezuela. We are not siding with Maduro. We are not siding with Guaido. We think a third way of a peaceful solution can be found."

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is calling potentially crippling U.S. sanctions against the troubled nation's state-owned oil company "criminal."

In remarks televised Monday on state TV, Maduro accuses the United States of robbing Venezuelans of oil riches that rightfully belong to them.

In a direct message to President Donald Trump spoken in broken English, Maduro says forcefully: "Hands off Venezuela!"

His increasingly isolated government would lose access to one of its most important sources of income and foreign currency along with $7 billion in assets under the U.S. sanctions.

The embattled leader is fighting for his political survival as a growing list of nations recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president.

Maduro says he will be announcing a range of measures in response to the U.S. sanctions within the coming hours but has provided no details.

The White House is not elaborating on the phrase "5,000 troops to Colombia" that could be seen on a notepad held by national security adviser John Bolton at a news conference announcing new sanctions for Venezuela.

Asked to explain the words, the White House said in an email to The Associated Press that "as the President has said, all options are on the table." The statement did not say anything further about the note.

The phrase could be seen during a portion of a White House news conference Monday during which Bolton and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced sanctions on Venezuela's state oil company. Colombia borders Venezuela and its government has sided with the U.S. in opposing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

President Donald Trump and other administration officials have repeatedly said "all options" are under consideration as they seek to pressure Maduro to give up power. But there has not been any announcement of any direct U.S. military involvement in the situation.

A legal pad held by U.S. national security adviser John Bolton at a White House news conference on Venezuela contained the phrase "5,000 troops to Colombia."

Bolton held the legal pad so the phrase was showing during a portion of Monday's announcement that the U.S. was imposing sanctions on the Venezuelan state-owned oil company.

There was no mention during the news conference of any plans regarding troops in Colombia, which borders Venezuela. But an image was captured by a photographer from The Associated Press and other news outlets.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

The Pentagon has not announced any plans to send U.S. forces to the South American nation.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is repeating his offer of "good offices" to facilitate dialogue and negotiations between Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and self-declared interim president Juan Guaido (gwah-DOH).

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric says the U.N. chief reiterated the offer during a meeting Monday with a delegation from the Caribbean Community on the situation in Venezuela "and its implications for the region."

The delegation was led by Saint Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Timothy Harris, who is chairman of CARICOM.

Barbados' ambassador to the United Nations spoke on behalf of CARICOM leaders at Saturday's meeting of the Security Council on Venezuela and reaffirmed the group's principles of non-interference and non-intervention in the affairs of states. Elizabeth Thompson said the leaders' view is that Venezuela's political crisis "can only be resolved peacefully through meaningful dialogue and diplomacy."

U.S. national security adviser John Bolton says sanctions on Venezuela's state-owned oil company will ensure the government of socialist President Nicholas Maduro can "no longer loot the assets of the Venezuelan people."

Bolton says he expects Monday's actions will block $7 billion in assets and cause more than $11 billion in lost export proceeds during the next year.

The U.S. and Venezuela broke relations last week after President Donald Trump recognized opposition lawmaker Juan Guaido (gwah-DOH) as the legitimate Venezuelan president.

The embattled Maduro still holds the reins in Venezuela, but the U.S. and allies are using economic and diplomatic pressure to push him out. Maduro is accusing the U.S. of openly leading a coup against him.

Bolton and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin briefed reporters at the White House.

Sen. Marco Rubio says the U.S. will hit Venezuela's state-owned oil company with sanctions aimed at increasing pressure on President Nicolas Maduro to step down from office.

The Florida Republican and two people briefed on the administration's plans say Treasury will impose penalties as early as Monday on the company known by its acronym PDVSA. The sanctions will include a freeze on any assets the firm may have in U.S. jurisdictions and bar Americans from doing business with it. The two people briefed on the sanctions were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Rubio praised the Trump administration for taking the action, which follows its earlier decision to recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as the interim president.

Canada plans to host an emergency meeting of the 14-nation Lima Group next week to discuss options for the crisis in Venezuela.

Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said Monday the meeting will be in Ottawa on Feb. 4.

The regional group was created in Lima, Peru, in 2017 to try to hope resolve the crisis in Venezuela and nearly all of the nations now have thrown their support behind opposition leader Juan Guaido as the interim president of Venezuela, deciding that last year's re-election of President Nicolas Maduro was invalid. Canada has been a key presence the effort to have Guaido recognized as president pending new elections.

Freeland says Venezuela has been a top foreign policy priority for Canada.

A Venezuelan diplomat in Miami says she's abandoned embattled President Nicolas Maduro, throwing her support behind opposition leader Juan Guaido.

Consular officer Scarlet Salazar issued a videotaped statement Monday saying she's living up to her constitutional duty as a career diplomat.

Opposition lawmaker Guaido last week declared that he had assumed presidential powers and will hold fresh elections to restore democracy. The U.S. and several other countries have recognized him as interim president, though Maduro is recognized by most nations, as well as the country's military leadership.

Salazar says she's staying and will continue to perform her consular duties at the Miami office. </s> MOSCOW (Reuters) - A top Russian security official on Tuesday accused Washington of deploying forces in Puerto Rico and Colombia in preparation for a military intervention in Venezuela to topple Moscow's ally, President Nicolas Maduro, something the United States denied.

"... The United States is preparing a military invasion of an independent state," Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council, was quoted as saying in an interview with weekly newspaper Argumenty i Fakty.

"The transfer of American special operations forces to Puerto Rico, the landing of U.S. forces in Colombia and other facts indicate the Pentagon is reinforcing its troops in the region in order to use them in an operation to remove ... Maduro from power," Patrushev said.

However, the U.S. special envoy for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, when asked on Tuesday if Washington was preparing to take military action in Venezuela, responded: "No."

"The president has said all options are on the table. Presidents always say that and rightly so. But it ill behooves the Russians to talk about military intervention after they have dismembered both Georgia and Ukraine," Abrams told reporters at the United Nations ahead of a Security Council meeting on Venezuela.

Venezuela, which has been plunged into political turmoil, was rocked by violent clashes at the weekend. The United States and a raft of other countries have backed the country's opposition, while China and Russia have stood by Maduro's government.

Patrushev said Washington had asked Moscow for consultations on Venezuela and that Russia had agreed, but that U.S. officials had repeatedly postponed them under false pretexts.

U.S. officials have previously dismissed Russian allegations about U.S. plans for Venezuela as baseless "propaganda".

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.

Firstpost is now on WhatsApp. For the latest analysis, commentary and news updates, sign up for our WhatsApp services. Just go to Firstpost.com/Whatsapp and hit the Subscribe button. </s> WASHINGTON, Aug 2 (Reuters) - U.S. national security adviser John Bolton and U.S. Secretary Wilbur Ross will speak at a conference on Venezuela in Peru next week as part of a campaign to force President Nicolas Maduro to relinquish power, a senior U.S. official said on Friday.

The Tuesday meeting will be a strong show of support for Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido from the more than 50 countries that have recognized him as the rightful president of Venezuela, said the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity.

Peru had proposed the meeting as a way to build support for early elections in Venezuela, and wanted Maduro's allies such as Russia, China, Cuba, Bolivia and Turkey to take part.

But none of those countries are expected to attend, the U.S. official said.

Washington considers Maduro a dictator who stole last year's election and has slapped a series of escalating sanctions on Venezuela to pressure him to step down. Maduro has refused and vows to resist what he describes as U.S. imperialism.

On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was considering a blockade of Venezuela. His administration has so far focused on diplomatic and economic pressure against Maduro while steering clear of any military action.

Asked about Trump's comments on Thursday, the senior administration official declined to give details.

"I would take the president at his word and I would take his word very seriously," the official said, noting the administration did not want to give away "the element of surprise."

The official said Trump's warning should have the effect of pushing Maduro to take ongoing talks with the opposition in Barbados more seriously. "He has a short window to find an exit strategy," the official said.

Norway, which is mediating the Barbados talks, said on Friday that Maduro's government and the opposition have reiterated their willingness to continue negotiating to find a solution.

Asked whether the White House would consider protecting Venezuelans in the United States from deportation - a measure known as "temporary protected status" - the official said the administration was committed to ensuring no Venezuelan at risk of persecution would be deported, regardless of whether the TPS program is used. </s> A Russian security official said on Tuesday he believed Washington was planning to intervene militarily in Venezuela.

Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council, said Moscow had agreed to a US proposal to hold talks in Venezuela — a Russian ally — however the US had postponed them on "false pretenses."

"...The United States is preparing a military invasion of an independent state," Patrushev said in an interview with Russian weekly newspaper Argumenty i Fakty.

"The transfer of American special operations forces to Puerto Rico, the landing of US forces in Colombia and other facts indicate the Pentagon is reinforcing its troops in the region in order to use them in an operation to remove ... Maduro from power."

Read more: Venezuela crisis: US military intervention becoming more likely

Patrushev's comments come on the heels of accusations that the Venezuelan government held a reporting team from a Spanish-language US television network against their will for more than two hours.

Univision anchor Jorge Ramos was interviewing President Nicolas Maduro when an altercation took place that he says led to their brief detention.

Ramos claims that he and his team were locked up in a security room where the lights were turned off and that their cellphones were confiscated.

"He did not like the things we were asking him, about the lack of democracy in Venezuela, about torture, political prisoners, about the humanitarian crisis that is going on," Ramos recounted, saying that he showed Maduro a photo of young men eating out of the garbage.

According to Ramos, the photo prompted Venezuela's acting president to abruptly leave the interview and shortly after, the team was stripped of their equipment and personal items.

The anchor spoke by phone with Univision news and the network aired the footage that allegedly drew Maduro's ire.

US State Department official, Kimberly Breier, announced the team's detention on Twitter. "The State Department has received word the journalist Jorge Ramos and his team are being held against their will at Miraflores Palace by Nicolas Maduro. We insist on their immediate release; the world is watching," Breier said.

Venezuela's Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez denounced Univision on Twitter, arguing that the government has welcomed hundreds of journalists at the Miraflores presidential palace. But Rodrgiuez said Caracas did not support "cheap shows," orchestrated with the help of the US Department of State.

Read more: Reporting in Venezuela: 'The fear has become real'

Venezuela's Press Workers Union said on Twitter that members of Venezuela's security services had surrounded the hotel where the journalists were staying and had notified the team that they would be taken to the airport in the morning, as part of deportation procedures

Univision is one of the largest Spanish-language broadcasters in the US. Ramos, of Mexican origin, is one of the network's most prominent anchors and is known for his tough and confrontational style during his interviews.

In 2015, he was ejected from a press conference of then-candidate Donald Trump, after he refused to sit down and continued to press Trump over his pledge to deport undocumented immigrants from the US.

The United Nations Security Council was expected to discuss Venezuela later on Monday at Washington's request.

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Russian military contingent that arrived in Venezuela over the weekend, drawing U.S. condemnation, is believed to be made up of special forces, including “cybersecurity personnel,” a U.S. official told Reuters on Tuesday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States was still assessing the Russian deployment, which Washington has called a “reckless escalation” of the situation in Venezuela.

Two Russian air force planes landed outside Caracas on Saturday carrying nearly 100 Russian troops, according to local media reports, two months after the Trump administration disavowed President Nicolas Maduro.

The Trump administration has recognised opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s legitimate president and demands that Maduro step down. Russia has described this as a U.S.-backed coup against the socialist government.

The U.S. assessment that the Russian contingent includes cybersecurity specialists and those from “related fields” suggests that part of their mission could be helping Maduro’s loyalists with surveillance as well as protection of the government’s cyber infrastructure.

Russia’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that the presence of “Russian specialists” in Venezuela is governed by a military-technical cooperation agreement between the two countries. But it did not provide further details.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in a phone call on Monday that Washington would “not stand idly by” as Russia backed Maduro, who has overseen a dramatic collapse of a once-bustling economy.

John Bolton, U.S. President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, said on Tuesday that while Guaido asks for humanitarian aid to help his people, Maduro asks for Cuban and Russian goons to suppress the people of Venezuela. “The military ranks are seeing Maduro’s corruption, violence, and lack of support within Venezuela,” Bolton said in a message on Twitter.

The United States and most Western countries have backed Guaido while Russia, China and Cuba are among those that have continued to support Maduro, who controls Venezuela’s state institutions including the military.

On Tuesday afternoon the Lima Group of Latin American countries said in a statement it was concerned about the arrival of military airplanes in Venezuela.

“We reiterate our condemnation of any military provocation or deployment that threatens peace and security in the region,” said the group formed in 2017 to pressure Maduro, which includes Brazil, Canada, Colombia and Peru.

U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent a letter to Pompeo on Tuesday urging him to determine if Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua should face mandatory U.S. sanctions for conducting significant transactions with the Russian defence and intelligence sectors.
A senior White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, reveals that the United States government is holding direct communications with members of Venezuela's military urging them to abandon Nicolás Maduro.