STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Active-duty U.S. forces who continue their deployment off the South American coast.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The Trump administration is putting more pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Over the weekend, the U.S.' most advanced aircraft carrier arrived in the Caribbean, joining nearly a dozen other naval warships that are already there.
INSKEEP: The president has been weighing military options against Venezuela, and he told reporters last night that Maduro appears ready to talk.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We may be having some discussions with Maduro, and we'll see how that turns out.
UNIDENTIFIED JOURNALIST: Mr. President...
TRUMP: They would like...
UNIDENTIFIED JOURNALIST: Mr. President...
TRUMP: ...They would like to talk.
INSKEEP: The U.S. has been blowing up small boats, leaving Venezuela and other South American countries, claiming they are transporting drugs. The open question is what else the U.S. means to do.
MARTÍNEZ: For more, we go to NPR's Carrie Kahn, who is in Bogota, Colombia. So, Carrie, what has Maduro said about the buildup off the coast of Venezuela?
CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE: Over the weekend, he gathered supporters and he announced this plan to rally civilians to defend Venezuela against attack. But listen to this, he told the crowd he just wants peace, peace, peace.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT NICOLAS MADURO: Peace, peace, peace. (Non-English language spoken).
KAHN: "Everything for peace," he says, like the John Lennon song "Imagine," which he then began to sing in English.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MADURO: (Singing) Imagine us people.
(CHEERING)
MADURO: (Laughter).
KAHN: Yesterday, the U.S. said it will designate the Cartel de los Soles - which they claim Maduro leads - as a foreign terrorist organization. Maduro denies he's a trafficker.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. That designation would allow the U.S. military to target Maduro's assets in Venezuela. So what are people in Venezuela saying about any imminent U.S. strike?
KAHN: Well, the thing is, I can't get into the country, A. We've been asking for a visa for months, and I'm waiting here in neighboring Colombia with our latest ask. The country's opposition leader, though, Maria Corina Machado, she put out quite a interesting message yesterday, urging Maduro's security apparatus to defy his orders.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MARIA CORINA MACHADO: (Non-English language spoken).
KAHN: She says, "lower your arms. Don't attack your people." She says, "the decisive hour in Venezuela's liberation is coming," and she urged people to be heroes. Machado has been living in hiding since last year's elections that were widely condemned, and many, including the U.S., say were stolen by Maduro. But there's a lot of talk now that she actually left the country and is on her way to Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace Prize next month. It's unclear if she will be allowed back in the country.
MARTÍNEZ: Now, you were just in Ecuador yesterday - that's neighboring Venezuela and Colombia - where voters there rejected a referendum that would have let the U.S. set up military bases to fight against drug traffickers. Why the no vote?
KAHN: It was really a bit of a surprise, given just the surge in drug gang-related violence there, which has overtaken that country. And multiple Trump officials have been visiting Ecuador recently. They've been backing the young conservative president there, who is a staunch Trump ally. The measure included rewriting the constitution. And for many, like this no voter, Rosita Guchimillo (ph), a 48-year-old homemaker in Quito, this was really a no-confidence vote for President Daniel Noboa. She says, we just don't trust him anymore.
ROSITA GUCHIMILLO: (Non-English language spoken).
KAHN: She says, "he'll rewrite the constitution to favor himself," and she didn't want to give the U.S. what she said would have been a blank check.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR's Carrie Kahn in Bogota, Colombia. Carrie, thanks.
KAHN: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
