Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has slammed Washington’s belligerent rhetoric against his country in an open letter addressed to the American people.

Maduro published an image of the letter on his official Twitter account, saying it would be delivered to the White House to demand respect for Venezuela’s “inalienable right to Peace. “

In the letter, Maduro denounces US President Donald Trump’s aggressive statements against him – which include branding Maduro an illegitimate dictator and hinting at a military intervention.

They want to invade and intervene in Venezuela – they say, as they said then – in the name of democracy and freedom. But it's not like that. The story about the usurpation of power in Venezuela is as false as the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Maduro accuses Trump of “disrupting noble dialogue initiatives,” which are promoted by Uruguay and Mexico and backed by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and aim to "a peaceful solution and dialogue favorable for Venezuela."

Venezuelans are willing to “continue being business partners” with the US, while politicians in Washington are ready to send their country’s “sons and daughters to die in an absurd war,” Maduro writes.

The Venezuelan president demands that the US stops its aggression against Venezuela, including both attempts to “suffocate our economy” and “the serious and dangerous threats of military intervention.” He signed off with the phrase “Long live the people of America!”

The Trump administration has been leading the call for the overthrow of Maduro, recognizing opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s “legitimate” leader. It was joined by a number of European nations. Several other countries – including Russia, China and Turkey – are standing behind Maduro as the legitimately elected president and denouncing Washington’s actions as attempts to foment a coup.

to RT newsletter to get stories the mainstream media won’t tell you.</s>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is holding direct communications with members of Venezuela's military urging them to abandon leader Nicolas Maduro and is also preparing new sanctions aimed at increasing pressure on him, a senior White House official said.

The Trump administration expects further military defections from Maduro's side, the official told Reuters in an interview, despite only a few senior officers having done so since opposition leader Juan Guaido proclaimed himself interim president last month, earning the recognition of the United States and dozens of other countries.

"We believe these to be those first couple pebbles before we start really seeing bigger rocks rolling down the hill," the official said this week, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We're still having conversations with members of the former Maduro regime, with military members, although those conversations are very, very limited."

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on a military vehicle during a military exercise in Puerto Cabello, January 27, 2019. Milaflores Palace/Handout via REUTERS

The official declined to provide details on the discussions or the level at which they are being held, and it was unclear whether such contacts could create cracks in the Venezuelan socialist leader's support from the military, which is pivotal to his grip on power.

With the Venezuelan military still apparently loyal to Maduro, a source in Washington close to the opposition expressed doubts whether the Trump administration has laid enough groundwork to spur a wider mutiny in the ranks where many officers are suspected of benefiting from corruption and drug trafficking.

Guaido says the May 2018 vote in which Maduro won a second term as president was a sham and on Jan. 23 invoked a constitutional provision to declare himself president, promising free and fair elections.

An anti-government protester covers himself with a shield during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro's government, in Caracas June 4, 2014. Christian Veron/Reuters

The US government also sees European allies as likely to do more to prevent Maduro from transferring or hiding Venezuelan government assets held outside the country, the US official said.

Major European countries have joined the United States in backing Guaido but they have stopped short of the sweeping oil sanctions and financial measures that Washington has imposed.

At the same time, the Trump administration is readying further possible sanctions on Venezuela, the official said.

Previous rounds have targeted dozens of Venezuelan military and government officials, including Maduro himself, and last month finally hit the OPEC member's vital oil sector. But the administration has stopped short of imposing so-called "secondary" sanctions, which would punish non-US companies for doing business with the Venezuelan government or the state oil monopoly PDVSA.

The US official said that Washington had every tool available to apply pressure on Maduro and his associates "to accept a legitimate democratic transition."

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro at a pro-government rally with workers of state-run oil company PDVSA in Caracas, June 22, 2016. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

The US government is also weighing possible sanctions on Cuban military and intelligence officials whom it says are helping Maduro remain in power, a second US official and person familiar with the deliberations have told Reuters.

Maduro's government has accused Guaido, who has galvanized Venezuela's opposition, of attempting to stage a US-directed coup.

General Francisco Yanez of the air force's high command became the first active Venezuelan general to recognize Guaido, but he is one of about 2,000 generals. Venezuela's chief military attache to the United States also said he was defecting late last month.

Guaido has actively courted members of the military with promises of amnesty and preferential legal treatment if they disavow Maduro and disobey his orders, and Washington this week raised the prospect of dropping sanctions on senior Venezuelan officers if they recognize Guaido.

Maduro still has the support of the military high command, and now routinely appears in pre-recorded events at military bases where officers stand behind him and chant triumphal slogans such as "Loyal always, traitors never."</s>CARACAS.— Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has slammed Washington’s belligerent rhetoric towards his country in an open letter addressed to the American people.

Maduro published an image of the letter on his official Twitter account, saying it would be delivered to the White House, demanding respect for Venezuela’s “inalienable right to peace.“

In the letter, Maduro denounces US President Donald Trump’s aggressive statements against him – in which he has branded Maduro an illegitimate dictator, as well as hinting at military intervention.

“They want to invade and intervene in Venezuela – they say, as they said then – in the name of democracy and freedom. But it’s not like that. The story about the usurpation of power in Venezuela is as false as the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.”

Maduro accused Trump of “disrupting noble dialogue initiatives,” which were promoted by Uruguay and Mexico and backed by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). They aim for “a peaceful solution and dialogue favourable for Venezuela.”

Venezuelans are willing to “continue being business partners” with the US, while politicians in Washington are ready to send their country’s “sons and daughters to die in an absurd war,” Maduro wrote.

The Venezuelan president demanded that the US stop its aggression against Venezuela, including both attempts to “suffocate our economy” and “the serious and dangerous threats of military intervention.”

He signed off with the phrase “Long live the people of America!”

The Trump administration has been leading calls for Maduro to be overthrown, recognising opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s “legitimate” leader.

It was joined in these calls by a number of European nations. Several other countries – including Russia, China and Turkey – are backing Maduro as the legitimately elected president, and have denounced Washington’s actions as attempts to foment a coup. — RT.</s>Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has slammed Washington's belligerent rhetoric towards his country in an open letter addressed to the American people.Maduro published an image of the letter on his official Twitter account, saying it would be delivered to the White House, demanding respect for Venezuela's "inalienable right to peace."In the letter, Maduro denounces US President Donald Trump's aggressive statements against him - in which he has branded Maduro an illegitimate dictator, as well as hinting at military intervention.Maduro accuses Trump of "disrupting noble dialogue initiatives," which were promoted by Uruguay and Mexico and backed by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). They aim for "a peaceful solution and dialogue favorable for Venezuela."Maduro wrote.The Venezuelan president demanded that the US stop its aggression against Venezuela, including both attempts to "suffocate our economy" and "the serious and dangerous threats of military intervention." He signed off with the phrase "Long live the people of America!"The Trump administration has been leading calls for Maduro to be overthrown, recognizing opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country's "legitimate" leader. It was joined in these calls by a number of European nations. Several other countries - including Russia, China and Turkey - are backing Maduro as the legitimately elected president, and have denounced Washington's actions as attempts to foment a coup.</s>The White House published a Spanish-language video message to the Venezuelan people on Thursday comparing socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro to Josef Stalin, Muammar Qaddafi, Benito Mussolini, and other tyrants who usurped power in their home countries, expressing solidarity with the opposition.

The video, published on Twitter, begins with a portion of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday in which he expressed solidarity with the Venezuelan opposition against Maduro. It then proceeds to explain, through a timeline of actions by the Maduro regime, how the dictator systematically made it impossible for opposition parties to compete politically, noting, in particular, the use of violence to silence protesters.

“Nicolás Maduro is a master of violating the Venezuelan constitution,” the text on the screen reads. “His tactics are copied directly from the innumerable authoritarian leaders before him.”

The video then shows images of, among others, Josef Stalin, Benito Mussolini, Saddam Hussein, and Muammar Qaddafi. Those images return at the end of the video, when the text declares, “we have seen this before.”

The video’s timeline begins in 2013, when Maduro took over for late dictator Hugo Chávez. It lists among the notable acts of Maduro’s tenure the imprisonment of dissident leader Leopoldo López for organizing peaceful protests in 2014, the failed attempt to replace the opposition-held National Assembly with a false legislature known as the “National Constituent Assembly” in 2015, the killing of dozens of protesters at the hands of soldiers deployed to torture and kill them since Maduro over, and his most recent rigged election, which resulted with his presidential victory against no opposition candidates.

Nicolás Maduro is no longer the president of Venezuela. As of January 23, the president of the National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, is officially the nation’s interim president, designated with organizing free and fair elections to fully transition out of the Maduro era. President Trump was among the first world leaders to recognize Guaidó’s constitutionally mandated rule, now one among nearly fifty world leaders to do so.

During his State of the Union address Tuesday, Trump once again reiterated support for Guaidó.

“Two weeks ago, the United States officially recognized the legitimate government of Venezuela, and its new interim President, Juan Guaidó,” President Trump said. “We stand with the Venezuelan people in their noble quest for freedom — and we condemn the brutality of the Maduro regime, whose socialist policies have turned that nation from being the wealthiest in South America into a state of abject poverty and despair.”

Trump also took the opportunity to condemn Democrats who have embraced socialism as a viable political ideology.

“Here, in the United States, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country,” he told Congress. “America was founded on liberty and independence — not government coercion, domination, and control. We are born free, and we will stay free.”

In terms of concrete support, Washington rapidly answered Guaidó’s call for the international community to provide food and medical aid to the people of Venezuela, who regularly face starvation and have no access to basic healthcare thanks to Maduro’s policies. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced last month that America would send $20 million in humanitarian aid to Venezuela through the border with Colombia. That aid began arriving yesterday, but Maduro deployed troops to block the trucks full of food and medicine from entering the country.

Maduro claims the aid is a trap and that American soldiers will hide in the trucks and attack Venezuela if the trucks are allowed in, a claim for which he has provided no evidence. He has also denied the existence of a humanitarian crisis in Venezuela and, rather than provide aid for the Venezuelan people, recently sent a shipment of construction materials to Cuba for use in reconstructing much of central Havana, devastated by a rare tornado this month.</s>Why is Russia defending Nicolas Maduro‘s claim to the presidency in Venezuela despite international pushback? Simply put, the South American country owes the Kremlin a lot of money and oil, experts say.

Maduro is also an important ally for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has built his reputation at home on his ability to project Russia’s power into parts of the world where the Soviet Union once held sway.

READ MORE: Here’s what is happening in Venezuela — and how Canada is involved

Putin would look weak in the eyes of the Russian people if he failed to defend one of his friends against the United States, according to Vladimir Rouvinski, who studies Russia at the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute. That’s why Russia is so concerned that Maduro’s position is in jeopardy.

“It will be a defeat — a defeat which will be extremely difficult to explain to the Russians,” Rouvinski told Global News by phone from Colombia, where he also teaches political studies at Icesi University.

Maduro visits Russia several times a year and is well-liked by Russia’s elites, including Putin, Rouvinski says.

“In Russia, where personal relationships are so important, I think this is a factor that is playing in favour of Maduro,” Rouvinski said.

The United States, Canada and several countries in the European Union have stopped recognizing Maduro as president, amid concerns over his latest election win and the state of the Venezuelan economy. Maduro has presided over a devastating economic collapse in Venezuela, where hyperinflation has ruined its currency and millions have fled the country in search of a better life elsewhere.

READ MORE: Experts say U.S. military threat in Venezuela could help Maduro

Russia, China, Turkey and Iran have steadfastly supported Maduro throughout the crisis.

The U.S. and its allies have thrown their support behind opposition leader Juan Guaido, whom they have recognized as interim president. They’ve also hammered Maduro with heavy sanctions designed to cut off his access to the government’s foreign investments.

However, Maduro still controls Venezuela’s military, and he has refused to surrender the presidency while powerful allies like Russia have his back.

Approximately 400 suspected mercenaries were dispatched to Venezuela that same week to protect Maduro from harm, Reuters reported. The mercenaries are associated with a group called Wagner, a private military contractor that employs more than a thousand former Russian soldiers. The shadowy group has reportedly fought for Russian interests in Syria and Ukraine, although the Kremlin describes them as unaffiliated volunteers.

READ MORE: How shadowy mercenaries cash in on Russia's wars

Here’s why Russia is so determined to prop up Maduro, even in the face of international efforts to topple him.

Vladimir Putin rose to power in 2000 by promising to restore Russia to its former glory, and part of that meant befriending the Soviet Union’s former allies in Latin America. Putin set out to do just that, and cut several deals to equip those countries with Russian-made weapons, not American ones.

Most of Putin’s old friends in the region are now gone, leaving Maduro and Venezuela as Russia’s last major foothold in Latin America.

WATCH BELOW: Intel chiefs say foreign influence in Venezuela likely to prolong instability

Rouvinski described Venezuela as an important Russian ally in the United States’ backyard, much like Ukraine has become an American ally under the shadow of Russia. Putin looks strong by maintaining that friendship with Maduro, and he would look ineffective if Maduro fell.

“Venezuela is practically the only country left for Putin,” Rouvinski said. “It is an attempt to do exactly what the United States did to Ukraine.”

Rouvinski adds that Maduro has a lot of friends in Russia, and those friends will not abandon their Venezuelan ally.

“They’re trying to support the Maduro government however they can,” he said.

Russia has reportedly poured more than $17 billion into Venezuela in loans and investments since 1999, according to reporting from The Associated Press. Venezuela has paid back much of that debt, but it still owes Russia approximately $3.15 billion.

Russia and Venezuela agreed to a 10-year repayment plan for that debt in November 2017.

The U.S. has tried to cut off Maduro’s ability to repay that money by sanctioning the state-owned oil company, PDVSA. The sanctions are expected to cost Maduro $11 billion in lost export proceeds next year, and will block him from accessing PDVSA assets worth $7 billion, White House national security adviser John Bolton said last month.

But Maduro’s opponents have accused him of trying to pay back his allies in other ways.

WATCH BELOW: Russia declares U.S. sanctions against Venezuela ‘illegal’

Opposition lawmaker Jose Guerra claimed last week that Maduro sent approximately 20 metric tons of gold to Russia aboard a mysterious passenger jet that paid an out-of-the-ordinary visit to Caracas on Jan. 28. The 400-seat Boeing 777 arrived directly from Moscow with no one on board except for its flight crew, sparking speculation as to its true purpose. It remained on the tarmac in Caracas for two days.

Guerra accused Maduro of loading more than $800 million worth of gold onto the jet, citing unnamed sources in Venezuela’s monetary authority. He said the gold would amount to 15 per cent of the reserves in Caracas, although his claims have not been independently verified.

WATCH BELOW: Mysterious plane returns to Russia from Venezuela

A bank in Portugal blocked Venezuela’s attempt to transfer $1.2 billion to banks in Uruguay, lawmaker Carlos Paparoni said at a congressional session on Wednesday.

“This transaction has until now been halted, protecting the resources of all Venezuelans,” Paparoni said.

Venezuela is in the grips of an economic crisis, with many residents struggling to get their hands on basic necessities.

A senior official told Reuters last week that Maduro plans to sell a total of 29 metric tons of gold to the United Arab Emirates by the end of February in exchange for cash. Twenty-nine tons of gold would be worth approximately $1.2 billion, based on current market prices.

WATCH BELOW: Venezuelans line up outside currency exchange houses as Maduro reverses currency rate

Russia acknowledged last week that Venezuela will likely have trouble meeting its repayment schedule.

“There will probably be problems,” Sergei Storchak, Russia’s deputy finance minister, told reporters on Jan. 29.

Storchak says Venezuela is due to make its next twice-yearly, interest-only payment of over $100 million at the end of March. It made its last payment in September.

Russia has a lot of military entanglements with Venezuela, which it views as a strategic ally in the Western Hemisphere. Venezuela has bought more than $4 billion in weapons from Russia since 2005, including approximately 50 helicopters, 24 fighter jets and 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles.

Kalashnikov Concern, the Russian-based gun manufacturer behind the original AK-47, is slated to open a new rifle factory in Venezuela at the end of the year, according to Russia’s Interfax news agency.

The factory would be the first-ever Kalashnikov manufacturer in the West, and is expected to produce tens of thousands of weapons for Russia every year.

“This plant is of strategic importance for the independence of Venezuela and its armed forces,” Venezuela’s defence minister, General-in-Chief Vladimir Padrino Lopez, told Interfax in Moscow last April.

READ MORE: Maduro oversees military exercises as pressure mounts on Venezuelan leader

The project was originally announced in 2006 but delayed for over a decade due to corruption scandals and mismanagement.

Venezuela’s state-run energy company, PDVSA, operates the largest underground oil reserves in the world, and Russia is heavily invested in maintaining access to those reserves. Rosneft, Russia’s No. 1 oil producer, has loaned PDVSA billions and pre-purchased a vast amount of oil to help keep it afloat. Rosneft is also one of several foreign oil companies operating in Venezuela.

PDVSA currently owes Rosneft $2.3 billion, the Russian oil company said on Tuesday. Rosneft says PDVSA made its last debt payment on time, reducing the amount owing by about $800 million.

READ MORE: U.S. issues lists of 210 Russian politicians, oligarchs linked to Putin

American sanctions aim to prevent PDVSA from exporting roughly 500,000 barrels of crude oil per day to the U.S., which is one of its primary customers. American refineries can buy the oil but the money gets locked away in an escrow account until Maduro is no longer in control of PDVSA.

WATCH BELOW: U.S. will lift sanctions on Venezuela when Maduro is gone

Oil once fuelled Venezuela’s economy, but that economy collapsed after oil prices dropped in recent years, plunging the country into its current crisis. Selling oil will be a crucial part of Maduro’s efforts to pay back Russia and China, his other major creditor. Venezuela owes Beijing approximately $20 billion.

Rouvinski says Russia might be drawn into a military conflict if a pro-American leader takes over in Venezuela and seizes Russian oil assets, without providing any compensation. However, combat is the “least desirable option,” because Russia is too far away to sustain a fight in Venezuela, he said.

“I believe this would be the last option,” he said. “Russia understands that it may end up with unpredictable results.”

He adds that Russia doesn’t want to be pushed into a corner, but it will react if things get too heated in Venezuela.

“For them, the point of no return will be U.S. invasion.”

— With files from Reuters and The Associated Press</s>WASHINGTON: The United States is holding direct communications with members of Venezuela’s military urging them to abandon President Nicolas Maduro and is also preparing new sanctions aimed at increasing pressure on him, a senior White House official said.

The Trump administration expects further military defections from Maduro’s side, the official told Reuters in an interview, despite only a few senior officers having done so since opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president last month, earning the recognition of the United States and dozens of other countries.

“We believe these to be those first couple pebbles before we start really seeing bigger rocks rolling down the hill,” the official said this week, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We’re still having conversations with members of the former Maduro regime, with military members, although those conversations are very, very limited.”

The official declined to provide details on the discussions or the level at which they are being held, and it was unclear whether such contacts could create cracks in the Venezuelan socialist leader’s support from the military, which is pivotal to his grip on power.

Read More: Venezuela’s Guaido: ‘We will do what is necessary’

With the Venezuelan military still apparently loyal to Maduro, a source in Washington close to the opposition expressed doubts whether the Trump administration has laid enough groundwork to spur a wider mutiny in the ranks where many officers are suspected of benefiting from corruption and drug trafficking.

Members of the South American country’s security forces fear they or their families could be targeted by Maduro if they defect, so the U.S. would need to offer them something that could outweigh those concerns, said Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Council of the Americas think tank in Washington.

“It depends on what they’re offering,” Farnsworth said. “Are there incentives built into these contacts that will at least cause people to question their loyalty to the regime?”

Guaido says the May 2018 vote in which Maduro won a second term as president was a sham and on Jan. 23 invoked a constitutional provision to declare himself president, promising free and fair elections.

The U.S. government also sees European allies as likely to do more to prevent Maduro from transferring or hiding Venezuela government assets held outside the country, the U.S. official said.

Major European countries have joined the United States in backing Guaido but they have stopped short of the sweeping oil sanctions and financial measures that Washington has imposed.

At the same time, the Trump administration is readying further possible sanctions on Venezuela, the official said.

Previous rounds have targeted dozens of Venezuelan military and government officials, including Maduro himself, and last month finally hit the OPEC member’s vital oil sector.

But the administration has stopped short of imposing so-called “secondary” sanctions, which would punish non-U.S. companies for doing business with the Venezuela government or the state oil monopoly PDVSA.

Read More: Protesters in UK ask Bank of England to return Venezuela’s gold

The U.S. official said that Washington had every tool available to apply pressure on Maduro and his associates “to accept a legitimate democratic transition.”

The U.S. government is also weighing possible sanctions on Cuban military and intelligence officials whom it says are helping Maduro remain in power, a second U.S. official and person familiar with the deliberations have told Reuters.

Maduro’s government has accused Guaido, who has galvanised Venezuela’s opposition, of attempting to stage a U.S.-directed coup.

General Francisco Yanez of the air force’s high command became the first active Venezuelan general to recognise Guaido, but he is one of about 2,000 generals. Venezuela’s chief military attache to the United States also said he was defecting late last month.

Guaido has actively courted members of the military with promises of amnesty and preferential legal treatment if they disavow Maduro and disobey his orders, and Washington this week raised the prospect of dropping sanctions on senior Venezuelan officers if they recognise Guaido.

Maduro still has the support of the military high command, and now routinely appears in pre-recorded events at military bases where officers stand behind him and chant triumphal slogans such as “Loyal always, traitors never.”</s>CARACAS.— Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has slammed Washington’s belligerent rhetoric towards his country in an open letter addressed to the American people.

Maduro published an image of the letter on his official Twitter account, saying it would be delivered to the White House, demanding respect for Venezuela’s “inalienable right to peace.“

In the letter, Maduro denounces US President Donald Trump’s aggressive statements against him – in which he has branded Maduro an illegitimate dictator, as well as hinting at military intervention.

“They want to invade and intervene in Venezuela – they say, as they said then – in the name of democracy and freedom. But it’s not like that. The story about the usurpation of power in Venezuela is as false as the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.”

Maduro accused Trump of “disrupting noble dialogue initiatives,” which were promoted by Uruguay and Mexico and backed by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). They aim for “a peaceful solution and dialogue favourable for Venezuela.”

Venezuelans are willing to “continue being business partners” with the US, while politicians in Washington are ready to send their country’s “sons and daughters to die in an absurd war,” Maduro wrote.

The Venezuelan president demanded that the US stop its aggression against Venezuela, including both attempts to “suffocate our economy” and “the serious and dangerous threats of military intervention.”

He signed off with the phrase “Long live the people of America!”

The Trump administration has been leading calls for Maduro to be overthrown, recognising opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s “legitimate” leader.

It was joined in these calls by a number of European nations. Several other countries – including Russia, China and Turkey – are backing Maduro as the legitimately elected president, and have denounced Washington’s actions as attempts to foment a coup. — RT.</s>Venezuelan opposition lawmaker Juan Guaido named himself interim president in January and has worked to oust President Nicolas Maduro, whose second term, which began January 10, has been widely rejected as illegitimate.

Since Guaido took his oath of office on January 23, he has been recognized by many as Venezuela's rightful leader, including the US and much of Latin America.

Read more: Trump leaves 'military option' on the table for Venezuela, which he calls as threatening as North Korea

But the military — regarded as Venezuela's "king-maker"— has helped Maduro retain power in the face of upheaval and isolation. With pressure growing on Maduro, it remains unclear what course the military will take.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez hands aging Belgian FAL rifles to reserve soldiers at a ceremony in Fort Tiuna in Caracas, June 14, 2006. AP Photo/Leslie Mazoch

Venezuela's military has been bound closely to the government since late President Hugo Chavez, a former army captain, took office in 1999 and began to cultivate the force as a base of support. Many military leaders remain loyal to Chavez and his political movement, Chavismo.

Venezuela's armed forces now has about 2,000 generals — about half of them elevated by Maduro, who succeeded Chavez in 2013. Promotions have often been based on loyalty, and Maduro has tried to ensure fealty by forcing out dissenters.

Read more: Bolton's not-so-subtle note about sending 5,000 US troops to Colombia may have just been a bluff to spook Venezuela's embattled Maduro

Senior military officers have benefited from preferential treatment. Maduro has given military leaders control of food-distribution programs and the oil industry; some officers have used their authority to profit from illicit activities. Many military leaders likely see Maduro as the only alternative to a loss of status or to prosecution.

But not all Venezuelans in uniform have experienced the country's crises in the same way. Lower-ranking officers and enlisted troops are exposed to the same hardships as the country's civilians. While some officers have broken with Maduro, many more regular soldiers have shown signs of discontent.

Venezuelan national guardsmen detain demonstrators during a protest against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, May 14, 2014. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

Small-scale rebellions have popped up in recent years, but they have been put down, and hundreds of troops have been detained for their protests. Others have simply deserted, which Maduro's government was trying to stop well before Guaido called on the military to switch sides.

A document signed by the head of Venezuela's immigration service on November 13 orders border guards to keep military personnel and reservists from leaving Venezuela without authorization, according to Bloomberg.

Read more: John Bolton says Venezuela's Maduro could end up in a 'beach area like Guantánamo'

A document signed by Venezuela's national-guard commander on December 21 and seen by Bloomberg indicated some 4,300 guardsmen have deserted since 2014 — all non-commissioned officers or enlisted personnel, representing about 6% of the force which handles domestic operations and has been on the frontline against protests.

A Venezuelan national guardsman burns a copy of a proposed amnesty law presented by supporters of Venezuelan opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido, outside a military unit in Caracas, January 27, 2019. Ronald Pena/El Pitazo via REUTERS

At the end of January, supporters of Guaido in Caracas distributed a pamphlet offering amnesty to members of the military who defected from Maduro's government.

"What you have, not with me but with us, is a guarantee of protection," Guaido told supporters and troops in Caracas. Earlier this month, the Lima Group, 11 members of the 14-member Lima Group, a bloc of Latin American countries, asked Venezuela's military to show "loyalty" to the opposition leader.

Read more: Officials keep talking about intervening in Venezuela, and it's drawing an ominous comparison

"The military leadership must understand that Maduro's days are numbered, the financial situation is unsustainable, and that they are on the wrong side of the Venezuelan public and of history," James Bosworth, an expert on the region and founder of political-risk advisory Hxagon, told Business Insider on Friday.

"Still, it is not particularly easy for the leadership to coordinate an effort against Maduro that leads to a good outcome for them," Bosworth added. "The military is trying to avoid any situation that leads to sectors of the security forces battling each other."

Days before Guaido proclaimed himself interim president, about two dozen military officers attacked a national-guard post near the presidential palace in Caracas. They stole weapons, kidnapped officials, and posted a video calling for public support before security forces surrounded them.

Protests in support of the attackers broke out nearby, but the officers involved were of lower rank and had little ability to force change.

Read more: 'Different shades of utter resignation': Venezuelans fleeing hardship at home are finding more struggles abroad

But their actions reflect what many see as the most likely fault line. Antonio Rivero, an exiled Venezuelan who rose to the rank of general before leaving the country, told NBC News that he saw low- and mid-ranking officers turning on senior officers and the government.

"This is the scenario that is gaining more traction," he said at the end of January. "Any confrontation can lead to a civil war," Rivero cautioned, but such a conflict would likely be short, he said, as most Venezuelans want Maduro out.

National security adviser John Bolton with a note reading "5,000 troops to Colombia," which raised speculation about US military action in response to Venezuela, at a White House press briefing, January 28, 2019. Jim Young/Reuters

The US has worked assiduously to undermine Maduro and bolster Guaido, focusing on opening divides within the military. National security adviser John Bolton, at the front of those efforts, has said sanctions could be removed for officers who break with Maduro.

In late January, Bolton said the US believed "the rank and file of the Venezuelan military is acutely aware of the desperate economic conditions in the country. We think the junior officer ranks and the mid-level officer ranks are the same."

Read more: Some 3 million Venezuelans have fled their country — here's what it's like at ground zero of their exodus

In what appeared to be an effort to foment more uncertainty among military leaders, Bolton said the US was "aware of significant contacts between general officers of the Venezuelan military and supporters of the National Assembly."

A US official said this week that Washington was in direct contact "with members of the former Maduro regime, with military members." The official conceded that "those conversations are very, very limited" but said the US expected more to break ranks.

'This has created serious tension'

Juan Guaido, left, the opposition leader who declared himself interim president of Venezuela; and President Nicolas Maduro, who has refused to step down. Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters; Marco Bello/Reuters

Venezuela's military leadership does not trust Guaido or the US government, "meaning promises of amnesty and reduced sanctions have only a limited impact," Bosworth told Business Insider.

Time may also be on Maduro's side, according to Jose Antonio Colina, a former Venezuelan army lieutenant who fled to Miami in 2003 and now heads a Venezuelan exile organization.

"The possibility that the armed forces will completely disavow Nicolas Maduro and support Juan Guaido is becoming less likely as time goes by," Colina told NBC News at the end of January.

Read more: Hawkish GOP veteran convicted during Iran-Contra affair picked to run Trump's Venezuela policy

The military has remained on Maduro's side through years of turmoil, but that pressure, which is unlikely to abate, has strained the relationship between the men and women in uniform and their leaders.

"Because the military is so focused on coordination and acting as a unit, there is an intense focus on discipline and some severe punishments for anyone in lower levels considering defection or desertion. The commanders are also aware that morale is low and many of the enlisted and lower-ranking officers have zero loyalty to Maduro," Bosworth said.

"This has created serious tension that threatens the whole military institution."</s>The United States is engaged in direct contacts with members of Venezuela's military encouraging them to pledge allegiance to opposition leader Juan Guaido and is working on new sanctions to ramp up pressure on the country's incumbent President Nicolas Maduro, Reuters reported, citing a senior White House official.

READ MORE: Montevideo Calls Venezuela's Guaido 'More Non-Legitimate' Than Maduro's Gov't

The insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity, claimed that the Trump administration expected more servicemen to abandon Maduro, even though only a few officers have chosen to side with Guaido since he declared himself Venezuela's interim president on 23 January.

"We believe these to be those first couple pebbles before we start really seeing bigger rocks rolling down the hill. We're still having conversations with members of the former Maduro regime, with military members, although those conversations are very, very limited", the official said, although declined to provide further details on the discussions or the level at which they are being held.

According to the Reuters source, the US government believes that its transatlantic allies are likely to put more effort to stop Maduro from transferring or hiding Venezuelan government assets held outside the country.

Currently, the Trump administration is preparing a new round of possible sanctions on Caracas, the official claimed.

Another US official and a person familiar with the deliberations told Reuters that Washington was also considering sanctions on Cuban military and intelligence officials who are allegedly helping Maduro to remain in power.

READ MORE: Venezuela's Guaido Calls Street Rally for Saturday to Welcome Relief Aid

Earlier this week, US National Security Adviser John Bolton took to Twitter to announce that Washington would consider lifting sanctions on senior Venezuelan military officers if they recognise Guaido:

All eyes have been on Venezuela since Guaido, the head of the opposition-led National Assembly, proclaimed himself the South American country's interim president in late January in a move swiftly recognised by the United States and a handful of its allies, blasting the May presidential elections in Venezuela as sham.

Besides the intoduction of sweeping oil sanctions and financial restrictions on the Maduro government and state-run oil and gas company PDVSA, Trump stated that a military intervention in Venezuela was "an option".

In an interview with Sputnik, Maduro, who has launched a signature-gathering campaign against US interference, stressed that the main objective behind Washington's involvement in Venezuela was the fact that the country has the biggest oil reserves in the world.
A senior White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, reveals that the United States government is holding direct communications with members of Venezuela's military urging them to abandon Nicolás Maduro.