Noel King

And continuously in the intelligence services, counterintelligence services, which by all accounts is one of the reasons why all the coup attempts and conspiracy attempts against Maduro have failed.

So there's several scenarios that I could see the Americans trying.

What are these land attacks?

Well, drone, I suppose, drone airstrikes against supposed targets.

drug transshipment points, which might or might not be isolated posts in the jungle or possibly military garrisons where they claim they're colluding with narcotraffickers as a way to destabilize or frighten Maduro.

Option two would be an assassination strike or an attempt to cause real damage, demoralizing damage to the armed forces and the regime itself and thus make it appear weak

in the face of the population, in the hopes that that population who, you know, polls would suggest love and cherish Maria Carolina Machado, would pour into the streets demanding the ouster of the regime or, you know, would literally flood the palace.

Who knows?

That's dangerous.

I think by now, most people believe that even if they were to

change Maduro, it wouldn't settle the country.

How would Maria Corina Machado simply replace him in power?

Would the Americans have to come and form a praetorian guard around her to protect her?

I think if you ask most Venezuelans what they would like, they would like Maduro to leave and there not to be any American military intervention.

And I don't know that those two are, at the moment, we don't know whether those two are mutually irreconcilable or not.

That's The New Yorker's John Lee Anderson.

Ariana Asputu produced today's show.

Amina El-Sadi edited.

David Tatasciore and Patrick Boyd are our engineers.

And Laura Bullard and Danielle Hewitt checked the facts.