As U.S.-Venezuela tensions rise, sociologist and historian Emmanuel Guerisoli wrote in Spanish in Venezuela’s El Nacional that a civil war is “very likely” if the United States tries to unilaterally oust President Nicolás Maduro. Newsweek has reached out to Guerisoli and the State Department for comment via email on Wednesday.

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said Friday that she is focused on an orderly transition of power in her country should President Nicolás Maduro leave power and that she is confident Venezuela’s police and armed forces would not oppose such a transition.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said in an interview with U.S. media organization Newsmax on Monday that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was welcome to come to Belarus should he leave office,

The Venezuelan defense minister has vowed to respond to U.S. "sovereignty" threats as pressure on Caracas mounts.

Now, President Donald Trump wants Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro out of power. Maduro’s “days are numbered,” Trump told Politico in an interview released on Dec. 9. His Administration considers Maduro the head of a government-sponsored cocaine smuggling syndicate.

Caracas accuses the Caribbean island nation of participating in the seizure of an oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast

President Donald Trump‘s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, suggested that the military will continue to target alleged drug smuggling boats until Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro “cries uncle.” “He wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle,

The United States has dramatically escalated tensions in the Caribbean after federal authorities seized an oil tanker linked to Iran and Venezuela under a judicial warrant. U.S. officials say the vessel was part of a covert oil-smuggling network tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,