Trump's Venezuela struggles draw comparison to Obama's with Syria

Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro’s reliance on U.S. adversaries to defy President Trump’s call for his ouster is drawing comparisons to the Syrian civil war.

“The Syrian effect is also a good parallel because of the foreign presence in this country,” Gonzalo Koncke, an official at the Organization of American States, said through a translator during a discussion of foreign interference in the crisis. “We know that China, Iran, and others are trying very hard to extend their presence in the regime. They are exploiting the vast natural resources of Venezuela and are, in fact, having a field day thousands, millions of kilometers from their own countries.”