Analysis: "Corona crisis makes Venezuela vulnerable"

Over the past week, the US game of Venezuela has come into conflict - charges against Maduro with $ 15 million in reward for information leading to his arrest and trial, pledge to lift financial sanctions if a transitional government is established and now the largest military escalation in the region in many years.

This past week, the United States has presented a hefty collection of measures that mix cane and carrots with the hope of forcing a regime change in Caracas. And the timing is hardly a coincidence - Trump knows that the corona crisis and low oil prices make Venezuela vulnerable.

When photographer Sara Murillo Cortes and I visited Venezuela a couple of weeks ago, a cautious optimism was noticed. The government has allowed a dollarization of the economy and easing of import and export rules. New shops and restaurants are popping up in Caracas and gone was the worst commodity shortage of years.

Five million have moved Venezuela

But the structural problems remain and a regular Venezuelan salary suffers a bit of torment on the dollarized import market. Nearly five million people have fled the crisis in Venezuela and many families depend on money that migrants send home. As the corona crisis now leads country after country to put its economy on ice, the flood of hard currency risks its own.

After a well-publicized tour abroad where the highlight was the role of guest of honor at Trump's "State of the Union", opposition leader Guaidó returned to Venezuela to breathe life into the protests against Maduro's rule. But when we visited an opposition demonstration in Caracas with Guaidó at the head, it was clear that the air had completely gone out of the protest movement. A thousand protesters - a pale shadow of the crowds that filled the streets a year ago.

Trump now wants to play a more active role in the attempts to greatest Maduro. But the issue of US military involvement is controversial - even on the opposition side. Some see foreign intervention as the only way to force Maduro out of power. But others warn that a military intervention would throw the country into a spiral of violence that no one will be able to control.

When the world's unified eyes are directed at the corona virus, the United States is now conducting one of the largest military operations in Latin America in 30 years. At that point, the view was set on Panama - the country's leader Noriega was charged with drug trafficking and overthrown with a military invasion.