Thousands of Venezuelans are protesting the government of President Nicholas Maduro, the effects of economic and political instability in the country, and a nationwide power outage. WSJ's Gerald F. Seib explains why the crisis will become increasingly difficult for the U.S. to ignore. Photo: APWASHINGTON—As an embattled Nicolás Maduro clings to power in Venezuela, backed by the country’s military, the Trump administration is deadlocked over a key U.S. option for bolstering the opposition and keeping pressure on the regime, according to U.S. officials and an administration email exchange. U.S. Special Envoy Elliott Abrams, the State Department official who is leading U.S. diplomatic efforts in the Venezuelan crisis, has advocated granting immigration relief to more than 70,000 Venezuelans in the U.S. so they won’t...

Source: Wall Street Journal March 18, 2019 17:37 UTC