TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/VENEZUELA: “Six weeks after Juan Guaido declared himself Venezuela’s President, US lawmakers are wrestling with the possibility that momentum behind his political movement could stall and the question of how to respond as the crisis ripples regionwide. One reason: The Venezuelan people, once residents of Latin America’s wealthiest country, may be too weakened by starvation to take to the streets for much longer, one expert told the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on Latin America…Embattled President Nicolas Maduro shows no signs of losing the critical support of elites and the military since Guaido’s January 23 declaration, leading experts to warn that the situation could be settling into a ‘hurting stalemate’ — a standoff in which neither side can win and neither will agree to back down. The impasse poses a test for the Trump administration, whose aggressive challenge to the Maduro regime has wide bipartisan and international support but has yet to peel away Maduro’s power base. Now, time and the sheer daily suffering in Venezuela, where the average person lost 24 pounds last year and 90% live in poverty, according to subcommittee Chairman Marco Rubio, are becoming obstacles.”
–Nicole Gaouette, “Starving Venezuelans may lack strength to continue anti-Maduro fight, lawmakers warned,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, March 7, 2019 8:09 pm