Pope Leo urges Donald Trump not to try to overthrow Venezuelan president with military force

Pope Leo has urged Donald Trump not to attempt to overthrow the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, using military force, and to instead seek dialogue.

Trump’s administration has been considering its options as it steps up its campaign against Maduro, who it accuses of links to the illegal drug trade. The country’s authoritarian leader has denied the accusations.

The US has gathered its biggest military presence in the Caribbean since the 1989 invasion of Panama, and launched 21 strikes on suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, killing at least 83 people.

Trump reportedly gave Maduro an ultimatum to immediately relinquish power during a recent call, but the Venezuelan leader declined, demanding a “global amnesty” for himself and allies.

Speaking to reporters onboard the papal flight as he returned from his first overseas trip as pope to Turkey and Lebanon, Leo said the Catholic church was “trying to find a way to calm the situation” because “in these situations it is the people who suffer, not the authorities”.

“On the one hand, it seems there has been a telephone conversation between the two presidents,” he added. “On the other hand, there is this danger, this possibility, that there could be an action, an operation, including an invasion of Venezuelan territory.”

Leo said that if the US wanted to bring about change in Venezuela then it should not use military force, but instead “seek dialogue, including economic pressure”.

The Chicago-born pontiff was elected in May after the death of Pope Francis. During the flight, he also criticised anti-migrant activists who stoke “fears” of Islam and said cooperation between Christians and Muslims in Lebanon should be an example for Europe and the US.

The main purpose of his six-day trip, during which he met a host of religious and political leaders, was to urge peace amid heightened tensions in the Middle East. At the start of the visit, he said a world war is being fought “piecemeal” and is endangering the future of humanity.

Leo also spoke publicly for the first time about what it was like to have been picked to lead the world’s 1.4bn Catholics.

He said that during the secret conclave he began to realise that he might be chosen.

“I resigned myself to the fact when I saw how things were going – I said, ’this could be a reality’,” Leo, 70, added. “I took a deep breath. I said, ‘Here we go, Lord, you’re in charge and you lead the way’.”

He also discussed plans for future foreign trips, and said Africa could be the next one, including Algeria.