WORLD NEWS MAY 2, 2019 / 5:45 PM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO

Cracks appear in U.S. bipartisan unity on Venezuela

Patricia Zengerle, Matt Spetalnick
5 MIN READ

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s tough approach to Venezuela has won broad support from both Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress, but this rare display of bipartisan consensus is starting to show signs of strain as the crisis in the OPEC nation drags on.

Members of both parties remain in agreement that Venezuela’s socialist president Nicolas Maduro must go. They credit the Trump administration for helping to forge an international coalition that recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s interim president.

But after Guaido’s latest calls for a military uprising and street protests failed to oust Maduro this week, some Democrats urged the administration to work more closely with foreign allies to choke off Maduro’s cash flow and to tone down its rhetoric, particularly threats of military action.

Cracks in bipartisan cooperation on Venezuela - a rare bright spot for the Republican president, who has seldom drawn support for his policies from across the aisle - came amid signs of disappointment within the administration over what many had hoped would be a turning point in the crisis.

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