What a Military Intervention in Venezuela Would Look Like!

1.  A precision bombing campaign and a full-scale invasion. 

…A precision military intervention in Venezuela would require operations in the air, at sea, and in cyberspace.

…The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, for example, lasted thirteen years in a much smaller country.

2. Ground Invasion- “United States might choose to go all-in from the beginning. That would mean a major intervention, including both air strikes and the deployment of at least 150,000 ground troops to secure or destroy airfields, ports, oil fields, power stations, command and control centers, communications infrastructure, and other important government facilities, including the president’s residence, Miraflores Palace. The invading army would face 160,000 regular Venezuelan troops and more than 100,000 paramilitaries.”

…..An invasion of Venezuela would take far more troops (27,000), and last far longer (over 4.5 years), than Panama in 1989!

…..Cuban and Russian security forces would abandon their posts, and the Venezuelan people would welcome the foreign forces with open arms.

…..”There’s no such thing as risk-free military action. But in this case, the social, economic, and security costs of intervening far outweigh the benefits. Whether the United States launched limited air strikes or a full ground invasion, it would almost certainly get sucked in to a long, difficult campaign to stabilize Venezuela after the initial fighting was over. Such an engagement would cost American lives and money and hurt the United States’ standing in Latin America.”