Washington, May 8 (RHC)-- U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is offering new incentives to Venezuela’s military to turn against President Nicolas Maduro, part of a plan by President Donald Trump’s administration to topple the South American country’s legitimate government.

In a speech to the Americas Society at the U.S. State Department, Pence warned that Washington will sanction 25 additional magistrates on Venezuela’s supreme court, a senior Trump administration official told Reuters.

Pence offered new “carrots” to the Venezuelan military to get them to defect, as well as an economic aid package contingent on a political transition.  His speech was the first look at the Trump administration’s re-calibrated strategy following street protests last week led by Juan Guaido, the opposition figure backed by the United States and most other Western countries.