Pence: We will not abandon Venezuela

VENEZUELA is at risk of becoming a failed state, Mike Pence, the US vice-president, has said.

Speaking in Colombia yesterday on the first leg of a four-nation tour of Latin America, Mr Pence said that Washington “will not stand by as Venezuela crumbles”.

On Friday, Donald Trump suggested that he was considering military intervention in Venezuela, after four months of protests against President Nicolas Maduro.

The Pentagon said that no plans for invasion had been drawn up, but Mr Pence described his boss as “a leader who says what he means and means what he says”.

Juan Manuel Santos, the Colombian president, said: “Every country in Latin America would not favour military intervention.”