Donald Trump and his allies are preparing to attack Venezuela. They’re not even trying to be secretive about it. A “vast military build-up” is now under way in the Caribbean, with the USS Gerald Ford—the world’s largest aircraft carrier—dispatched there on October 26. According to the Economist, “more than ten percent of all deployed American naval assets” are now in Central and South America. What’s more, the Trump administration has authorized the CIA to conduct “lethal operations” (that is, assassinations and other forms of secret warfare) within Venezuela itself. Trump has dubbed President Nicolás Maduro a “narcoterrorist,” and top Republican politicians are explicitly threatening his life. Representative Mario Diaz-Balart has said that Maduro “can only negotiate not to have his plane downed when escaping,” while Senator Rick Scott said this Monday, “If I was Maduro, I’d head to Russia or China right now[...] His days are numbered. Something's gonna happen.”