Venezuela's Maduro Pleads For 'Peace' With The U.S. As Trump Admin Ramps Up Pressure: 'Please, Please, Please'

The plea comes as the Trump administration continues to ramp up pressure on the regime. On Thursday, the Washington Post reported that a Special Operations aviation unit has flown less than a 100 miles from Venezuela, yet another message to Caracas.

A U.S. official said the helicopters were conducting training flights and should not be taken as evidence of drills for a land assault into Venezuela.

However, report came a day after President Donald Trump confirmed he authorized the CIA to conduct lethal operations inside Venezuela, with officials telling The New York Times that the ultimate goal is removing authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro from power.

Moreover, the Miami Herald reported on Thursday that the Trump administration rejected an offer by the Venezuelan regime to oust Maduro and undergo a transition.

On Friday, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz claimedthat the Trump administration's pressure campaign is "consistent with the law of armed conflict and Article 51 of the UN Charter."

Waltz said in a social media publication that Venezuela's authoritarian government "is whining at the UN because President Trump is hitting back HARD against the cartels and traffickers driving the deadly flow of drugs into our country."

"Maduro—a fugitive and cartel boss—has fueled this crisis for years. Not anymore. The U.S. is exercising its inherent right of self-defense, as directed by the President, to defend the American people consistent with the law of armed conflict and Article 51 of the UN Charter," Waltz added.

The article Waltz was making reference to claims that "nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security."

"Measures taken by Members in the exercise of this right of self-defence shall be immediately reported to the Security Council and shall not in any way affect the authority and responsibility of the Security Council under the present Charter to take at any time such action as it deems necessary in order to maintain or restore international peace and security," the article adds.