Mike Waltz, President Donald Trump’s U.N. ambassador, was asked Thursday on Fox News about the administration’s plans for Venezuela. Trump recently authorized covert CIA operations against Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, and has publicly considered conducting land strikes on the country.

President Trump is ramping up military pressure on Venezuela’s authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro, raising the prospect of strikes inside the country, which would mark a major escalation from

On Wednesday, at least two B-52 bombers from Louisiana flew for several hours off the Venezuelan coast in international air space in what one senior U.S. official on Thursday called “a show of force.” The B-52s can carry dozens of precision-guided bombs.

Venezuela's government on Thursday requested an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council focused on the U.S. military actions in recent weeks in the waters off the South American country. Caracas cited "mounting threats" from the U.S., which has conducted multiple military strikes on alleged drug boats off Venezuela.