US officials have said the real purpose of the US military buildup in the Caribbean is regime change in Venezuela

The majority of Americans oppose using the US military to carry out regime change in Venezuela, according to a poll from YouGov that was conducted in early September.

The poll asked if the respondents would support or oppose the US using military force to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and 53% said they opposed, 29% said they weren’t sure, and just 18% supported the idea.

The opposition was stronger among Democrats, with 67% opposing the use of military force to carry out regime change. More Republicans opposed the idea (38%) than supported it (34%). When asked if they thought Venezuela would be better off if Maduro were overthrown, the majority (68%) said they weren’t sure.

Opposition was even stronger when the respondents were asked about the possibility of invading Venezuela, with 62% saying they oppose the idea and just 16% supporting it. The poll found 74% of Democrats and 48% of Republicans opposed an invasion.

When asked if they would support providing military aid for a Venezuelan effort to overthrow Maduro, 39% opposed the idea, 29% were unsure, and 32% supported it.

The poll also found that Americans were divided over sending US Navy warships near Venezuela, with slightly more opposing (38%) than supporting (36%). But there was a significant partisan divide over the deployment of warships, with 68% of Republicans supporting it and 62% of Democrats opposing it.

The Trump administration has deployed a significant number of warships to the Caribbean in the name of combating drug trafficking, but US officials have told The New York Times that the real purpose of the deployment was to oust Maduro.

First Published at Antiwar.com