President Donald Trump's statement on Friday that the US was considering "military options" in response to ongoing turmoil in Venezuela elicited surprise throughout the region.
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Trump's brash talk about a 'military option' in Venezuela has left diplomats scrambling to pick up the pieces
Trump's comments appeared to have weakened a growing regional consensus against Venezuela, and now US officials are trying to salvage it.
President Donald Trump during a press conference at his Bedminster, New Jersey, resort, August 11, 2017.
It apparently came without any consultation with the US military, which said soon that it had received no instructions from the White House about military action against Venezuela.
Trump's remarks don't appear to have been coordinated with Vice President Mike Pence, who arrived in Colombia on Sunday for a tour of the region.
During his visit, Pence appeared to try to thread a rhetorical needle, keeping pressure on Venezuela without explicitly affirming Trump's statement about military force.
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"What Pence has got to do is back off enough so that these countries can move ahead without looking like they’re lackeys of the US," Charles Shapiro, former US ambassador to Venezuela and now president of the Atlanta-based World Affairs Council, told The Wall Street Journal. "That's what Venezuela has already said they are. Venezuela says, 'I told you so.'"
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, speaking alongside Pence on Sunday, reiterated the close ties between his country and the US but said, "Since friends have to tell them the truth, I've told Vice President Pence the possibility of military intervention shouldn't even be considered."
"We are intent on looking into other measures some of which are already underway and others to be implemented in the future," Santos added.
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