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On the brink of chaos

President Donald Trump is right to be concerned about what is happening in Venezuela. He is wrong to consider use of U.S. military force to correct the situation.

Venezuela appears to be on the brink of chaos as a result of action taken by that country’s leftist president, Nicolas Maduro. He is rewriting the nation’s constitution to ensure he and his cronies remain in power and any opposition is crushed.

Asked about the situation Saturday, Trump told a reporter, “We have many options for Venezuela and, by the way, I’m not going to rule out a military option. … A military operation and military option is certainly something that we could pursue.”

That should be considered only if Americans and/or American interests are jeopardized by the Maduro regime. Involvement in a Venezuelan civil war is the very last thing our nation needs right now, especially given the reaction that would come from others in the world community.

U.S. officials already have put economic sanctions in place against the Maduro government. For now, the only change in that should be to increase the sanctions’ severity and target them more accurately at Maduro himself. Using the American military to oust him would be a mistake.

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