Clinton: Trump team laying groundwork for action on Maduro

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she believes the Trump administration is preparing for "some kind of military action" against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Speaking at a Wednesday panel in New York organized by the Council for Foreign Relations, Clinton argued that the Trump administration is "laying the predicate for some kind of military action against Maduro, in my opinion," using the war on drugs as a pretext.

Clinton questioned what the policy goals after possibly getting rid of Maduro could be, saying this needs to be looked at carefully, citing the years of chaos in Libya after NATO airstrikes in 2011, followed by the death of the country's leader, Muammar Gaddafi.

"We have to be really careful about this. I mean, I read a very thoughtful piece about Venezuela last week that said it would make Libya look like a normal country after the fall of Gaddafi," said Clinton, who unsuccessfully ran against Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.

"There are military forces, militia forces, drug cartels. So, if we're going to have some kind of foreign policy goal, we want to get rid of Maduro, what comes next?"

Clinton also asked if chaos erupts, who would take responsibility, warning that an attack on Venezuela could result in "a giant Somalia on the coast of South America," referring to the traditionally restive Horn of Africa country.

Turning to a number of Venezuelan boats recently destroyed by the US military, Clinton questioned US President Trump's description of them as drug-smuggling boats, saying: "We have no idea whether these boats were fishing boats, cruising, you know, family boats, drug boats."

She added that the Trump administration also doesn't know the boats' status, "because if they did have an idea, they would at least share that information."

Pointing out that the boats were all small, with 12 passengers maximum, Clinton said there were ways to handle them short of blowing them up, based on past practices,

"You have major naval forces in the area. Plus, you can also call in the coast guard, stop the boat, get on the boat, find out what's on the boat. I mean, that's the way you're supposed to do it based on everything we've done in the past," she said.