Military brigades and targets. The US plans for Venezuela.

The White House is developing several plans for Venezuela's future — and virtually all of them agree that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro must leave power. How this will be done is still being discussed, with some indecision remaining within the US presidency, according to sources familiar with the matter cited by the New York Times.

Ultimately, the decision will rest with the US President, Donald Trump. The Head of State wants to avoid putting US troops at unnecessary risk, as well as prevent a failure for the United States of America (USA). In parallel, the presidency intends not to upset the voices within its electoral base that advocate for non-interventionist policies. But this stance is being questioned by Secretary of State Marco Rubio , along with Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller , who are influencing the Head of State to act more aggressively and assertively against Venezuela.

The White House is also seeking a legal justification for attacking Venezuela. Donald Trump's advisors have already asked the Department of Justice to provide the legal basis for any military action on Venezuelan soil. The presidency is trying to figure out how it can attack the South American country without congressional approval—and without needing a declaration of war. In an interview with CBS News, the US Head of State has already stated that he "doubts" there will be a direct conflict.

Nevertheless, Donald Trump made it clear in the same interview that Nicolás Maduro's days as President "are numbered." Sending some ambiguous signals and not being entirely clear in his message, the US President will not have to decide for now on the future of a possible US military action against Venezuela.

A final decision will only be made when the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford, along with a fleet of aircraft, arrives in the Caribbean, which is expected to happen in mid-November. This military equipment, explains the New York Times, brings five thousand sailors and increases the offensive capabilities of the United States in Venezuelan territory. However, CIA agents are already in Venezuela trying to gather intelligence.

However, the US presidency has already concluded that the CIA's presence in Venezuela will not yield significant results. The White House therefore understands that it is necessary to act more assertively to remove Nicolás Maduro—whom the United States accuses of being the leader of a cartel—from power, and several plans are being drawn up, three of which stand out.

The first involves air strikes against military installations, some of which are involved in drug trafficking. The objective is to collapse military support for Nicolás Maduro's regime, which, in this scenario, could lead him to flee Venezuela or leave Caracas, making his capture easier. This approach—the less aggressive one—however, has a problem, as some critics point out: the fact that Venezuelans might see the Head of State as a martyr and support him.

The second hypothesis involves sending US special operations troops to try to capture (or possibly kill) the Venezuelan President. In this option, the Trump administration is studying how it could absolve itself of responsibility for arresting or killing a foreign leader. The solution seems to be arguing that Nicolás Maduro is the leader of a narcoterrorist gang—and is a wanted criminal by US authorities.

The third possibility is the most radical. It involves sending counterterrorism brigades to Venezuela to control some military bases, oil facilities, and vital infrastructure. This option is riskier for US troops on the ground. For now, Donald Trump is only considering carrying out long-range attacks, but these will only become more feasible when the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford arrives in the Caribbean.

The US president is also focused on another issue: Venezuela's oil reserves. But it's still unclear what would happen if Nicolás Maduro were to leave power: whether the United States would seize them, or manage them jointly with the future Venezuelan leader, who, in theory, would be the main face of the opposition, María Corina Machado.