As the U.S. masses warships and an aircraft carrier off Venezuela’s coast, a former U.S. ambassador to the country says the buildup looks less like a counternarcotics mission and more like preparation for regime change.

“Certainly these are resources that are entirely too powerful to prosecute just a counternarcotics strategy,” James Story, who served during the first Trump administration, told CBC News.

Story believes there's an 80 per cent chance the U.S. will soon carry out military operations inside Venezuela or its territorial waters. He argued that withdrawing what he called “exquisite assets” without taking further action would make it harder for U.S. President Donald Trump to claim a political victory.

Nearly a dozen U.S. warships have been joined by the aircraft carrier USS Ger

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