(MENAFN) Any attempt by Washington to overthrow Venezuela's government would either destabilize the nation or trap the United States in a prolonged commitment to sustain a successor administration, media reported Sunday.

The Pentagon has positioned naval vessels in Caribbean waters and executed disputed operations targeting small watercraft allegedly linked to narcotics trafficking from Venezuelan territory. The administration contends that Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro represents an illegitimate, cartel-connected authority, intensifying concerns about potential direct military intervention.

Yet if President Donald Trump pursues Maduro's forced removal, Washington would confront "fractured opposition elements and a military poised for insurgency," combined with probable "political backlash at home" for breaching Trump's commitments to shun fresh international conflicts, media assessed.

Foreign policy hawks—among them Elliott Abrams, a longtime Republican official on human rights matters who has historically championed US-aligned authoritarian governments across Latin America—contend that American credibility hangs in the balance.

"Trump is calling Maduro a narcoterrorist and a drug trafficker, and has assembled a huge armada," Abrams told the network. "If he backs down now and Maduro survives, there goes all the 'new Monroe Doctrine' talk and the idea of being supreme in our own hemisphere."

Washington has consistently stumbled in extensive nation-building efforts, despite investing hundreds of billions across administrations from both major parties. President Joe Biden's tenure opened with a disorderly American exit from Afghanistan, where US-trained security forces crumbled against a Taliban resurgence before international forces completed their departure.

Per media, certain Republicans worry that aggressive action in Venezuela would distance voters. "The American people did not vote for Trump to draw the US into a sustained conflict in Latin America," a GOP congressional staffer told media.

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