MOSCOW, November 25. /TASS/. America is posturing as if it will start a military conflict with Venezuela, but Washington won't cross the threshold of armed confrontation, US political scientist Garland Nixon told TASS in an interview.
"I don't think [US President] Donald Trump attacks Venezuela. <...> I suspect he’ll step right up to the line, as he did, get cold feet, and say, ‘I don’t want to do this,’ and then turn around," the expert stated.
The analyst explained his position by pointing to the limited applicability of the Monroe Doctrine in modern times.
"There was a time back in the 1960s and 70s, 80s, when they could go in, they could do things in South America and take things over. I don't think that'll work now, I don't believe that that world exists anymore in South America, and the United States does not have the economic and military power, and wherewithal to do the kind of things that they did in South America anymore," the agency source explained.
Washington accuses Venezuela of failing to do enough to combat drug smuggling. The US Navy has deployed eight ships, one nuclear submarine, and over 16,000 troops in the Caribbean, and since September has destroyed at least 20 high-speed boats in international waters, killing 76 people.
American media have repeatedly reported that the United States may soon strike drug cartel targets in Venezuela.