The United States is already engaged in what he described as "fifth-generation warfare" against Venezuela's regime, according to retired Army Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, who told Newsmax on Saturday that the next step should emphasize non-military tools aimed at tightening pressure on President Nicolas Maduro and his inner circle rather than moving quickly to kinetic action.
The approach, Shaffer told Newsmax's "Saturday Agenda," is an "all of national power" effort that relies on economics, diplomacy, information operations, and other levers, with military strikes used only when necessary.
Shaffer pointed to recent maritime enforcement actions as an example of how Washington can squeeze Maduro's revenue streams without destroying infrastructure.
"In here we're seeing things that obviously we seize this tanker," he said, adding that the vessel was "traced back to an IRGC holding company registered in Panama" and was "owned by the IRGC, carrying illegal oil."
He said the approach is to "start seizing the shadow fleet tankers," arguing that doing so "takes away money from their economy, from the shadow economy."
"The idea here is to hit Maduro and his inner circle directly without destroying infrastructure," Shaffer said.
He said that strategy is likely why military strikes would come later, not first, even as U.S. naval forces maintain a significant presence in the region.
"So I think that's why you're going to see us going to kinetic strikes last while we use these other means first, before we have to resort to using actual military power," Shaffer said. "Although we have about 20% of our naval forces sitting there right now."
Shaffer also said that if the U.S. did escalate militarily, Venezuela's command-and-control capabilities would be vulnerable.
However, he stressed the Venezuelan public should not be treated as an enemy and that any action should aim to preserve the country's ability to stabilize after Maduro.
"Let me say this very clearly for the audience and for the Venezuelans, the Venezuelan people are not our enemy," he said. "So the idea here is we want to minimize any kinetic casualties to include military."
He said Washington should avoid destroying Venezuela's armed forces entirely, contending a post-Maduro government would need the capacity to protect the country and manage regional tensions.
"We want to have a government that can come in after Maduro and actually pick up the pieces and be able to defend Venezuela from other threats, so we don't want to destroy their military altogether," said Shaffer.
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