Since launching a military campaign in the Caribbean earlier this year, President Donald Trump has made clear what phase one of his plan looks like: killing alleged drug smugglers and pushing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to leave office. The end goal'let's call it phase three'is to work with a new government to gain access to the country's oil and rare earth minerals. Phase two' That's an open question. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also serves as acting national security adviser, has taken the lead in planning for a variety of contingencies, several officials told us, although they said that the planning is restricted to a very small group of senior officials around the president and that they couldn't provide any details. Other officials involved in Venezuela discussions told us that if there is any substantive planning being done, it was news to them, and that they had little understanding of what the administration intends to do in the event that Maduro is toppled....
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