The Donald Trump administration reviewed plans by Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado for a potential transition of power from Nicolás Maduro, reported on Monday by The Washington Post.
According to internal U.S. government documents, the plan outlined by Machado and her team proposes creating forces to stabilize the country within the first 100 hours and the first 100 days after Maduro's departure, and to hold elections during the first year.
Although the Venezuelan opposition team, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, did not share its complete plan with the Trump administration for security reasons, U.S. officials admitted to the Post that «they are better prepared than was believed».
According to the newspaper, the opposition team conducted a detailed analysis of the Venezuelan army and concluded that only a «limited purge» would be necessary, as only 20% of the officers are «irredeemably loyal» to Maduro, while the rest are opposed to him or are apolitical.
The Trump administration, which does not recognize Maduro's legitimacy and accuses him of leading a drug trafficking network, has deployed an unprecedented military presence in the Caribbean Sea.
In that operation, it claims to have destroyed two dozen drug trafficking vessels and killed more than 80 people, and threatens to begin «soon» attacks inside Venezuelan territory.
Despite the tension, Trump and Maduro held a telephone conversation in November that, according to sources consulted by The Washington Post, was cordial.
During the communication, the U.S. president stated that he would like Maduro to resign, although he set no ultimatum and both committed to maintain new contacts in the future, the newspaper adds.
