The US is discussing emergency aid for Venezuela should the regime of Nicolás Maduro fall, including potential financial assistance alongside official loan programmes from the IMF and other institutions.
With opposition leader Juan Guaidó touring South America, Trump administration officials have been quietly planning for the chaotic situation that would probably follow any change of regime — even as the US continues to implement tough oil sanctions designed to starve the Maduro government of foreign revenue.
Among the key questions is what aid the Trump administration will itself offer — potentially requiring Congressional authorisation — to sustain a new Guaidó government in the initial months before global lenders such as the IMF were able to introduce their own full-blown programmes.