Pope Leo Warns Trump Not To Launch War Against Venezuela&...

By Barney Henderson

Content Director

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Pope Leo has warned Donald Trump not to launch a war to remove Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro using military force.

The Pope said Tuesday: "It is better to search for ways of dialogue, or perhaps pressure, including economic pressure."

He added, during a news conference in Turkey at the end of his first foreign trip, that the Trump administration should bring about regime change by other means to military force, "if that is what they want to do in the United States."

Why It Matters

President Donald Trump on Saturday announced that the airspace "above and surrounding" Venezuela should be considered as "closed in its entirety," leading to speculation a military strike was imminent.

Trump is waging a campaign against Maduro, stating that the Venezuelan leader is facilitating the flow of illegal drugs, via the cartels, into the U.S. Trump also blames Maduro for the large number of Venezuelan migrants who have traveled to the U.S. in recent years, fleeing economic crisis and the repression of opposition groups.

He has authorized several strikes in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean on small boats accused of ferrying drugs as well as a buildup of U.S. naval forces in the region. More than 80 people have been killed in such strikes since early September.

Maduro has denied being a cartel leader. After Trump's airspace announcement, the Venezuelan government accused him of making a "colonial threat" and seeking to undermine the country's "territorial integrity, aeronautical security and full sovereignty."

This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.