Alexei Pushkov, a member of the Russian Federation Council, believes that bringing Caracas under U.S. control would amount to seizing a massive “prize” in the geostrategic competition. Whether Washington can achieve this goal without deploying troops to Venezuela and occupying the country is a major question.Pushkov stated: “Removing Venezuela from the sphere of anti-American forces and bringing it under direct U.S. control—rather than merely within its sphere of influence—would represent a massive ‘prize’ for Washington in the global geo-economic and geostrategic competition…From this perspective, the capture of Maduro is merely the first step toward achieving this goal. The objective itself has not yet been attained. Whether Donald Trump can achieve this goal without deploying troops to Venezuela and occupying the country is a major question.” (Sputnik News)