Trump ready to fund Guaido’s opposition

The Trump administration wants to find a way to financially support Venezuelan opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido with an “influx of cash”, CNN cited unnamed White House sources as saying.

This comes amid the ongoing political standoff in Venezuela, which escalated earlier this week when the country’s opposition leader Juan Guaido, unsuccessfully tried to initiate a coup to overthrow the government of President Nicolas Maduro.

“They are trying to figure out how do you help the interim government be able to provide paychecks, that kind of stuff, so that there is an ability to say, ‘hey we are a functioning government’. That would include payments to various people, including those in the military,” one source said.

The sources claimed that the Trump administration is unlikely to fly cash directly to Venezuela, given the South American country’s air defences and the comparative ease with wihich Washington could deliver money to neighbouring Colombia to be transferred across the border to Venezuela.

The remarks come after US National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow said last month that Washington has “a lot of plans to revitalise the Venezuelan economy and move very rapidly”.