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Trump versus Maduro: Why the White House is fixated on Venezuela
President Trump's intense pressure campaign on Venezuela isn't just about drugs, or oil and natural resources, or even a long-term plan to reinvigorate the U.S. dominance of its own hemisphere and strangle the growing regional influence of China and Russia.
Instead, analysts and foreign policy insiders say, Mr. Trump's fixation on Venezuela reflects a unique combination of factors, including geopolitical, economic and personal, that has led the White House to pursue a multipronged push to squeeze what many see as the illegitimate government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. That strategy could include direct U.S. military strikes on Venezuela itself in addition to the continued targeting of boats allegedly transporting drugs or more seizures of Venezuelan tankers moving illicit oil.