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AFP
Bogota
US Vice President Mike Pence launches a Latin America tour Sunday that has taken on new significance following President Donald Trump's threat of a possible"military option"against Venezuela.
The weeklong trip, aimed at coordinating a regional diplomatic action to the political crisis in Caracas, begins in Colombia, a strong US ally that takes hundreds of millions of dollars a year in funding from Washington and which has little liking for leftist Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The other stops were Argentina, Chile and Panama.
The tour would be dominated by the crisis in Venezuela and how US"partners and friends"were looking to the"future"regarding that country, while others were stuck in the"past,"a senior US administration official said."We've been firm in both word and deed against the Maduro regime, and it's important to get others in the region.
And these four countries have, but we want to continue to put the pressure on the Maduro regime,"he told reporters on condition of anonymity."We'll talk to economic options, diplomatic options -- every tool that's available.
