The US is in direct contact with members of Venezuela’s military, urging them to abandon President Nicolas Maduro, and is also preparing new sanctions aimed at ramping up pressure on him, a senior White House official said.

The Trump administration expects further military defections from Maduro’s side, the official told Reuters, even though few senior officers have done so since opposition leader Juan Guaido proclaimed himself interim president last month, earning the recognition of the US and dozens of other countries.

“We believe these to be those first couple pebbles before we start really seeing bigger rocks rolling down the hill,” the official said this week.

“We’re still having conversations with members of the former Maduro regime, with military members, although those conversations are very, very limited.”

The official declined to provide details on the discussions or the level at which they are being held, and it was unclear whether such contacts could create cracks in the Venezuelan socialist leader’s support from the military, which is pivotal to his grip on power.

With the Venezuelan military still believed to loyal to the socialist strongman, a source in Washington close to the opposition expressed doubts whether the Trump administration has laid enough groundwork to spur a wider mutiny in the ranks where many officers are suspected of benefiting from corruption and drug trafficking.

Guaido says the May 2018 vote in which Maduro won a second term as president was a sham and on Jan. 23 invoked a constitutional provision to declare himself president, promising free and fair elections.

The US also sees European allies as likely to do more to prevent Maduro from transferring or hiding Venezuela government assets held outside the country, the US official said.

Major European countries have joined the United States in backing Guaido but they have stopped short of the sweeping oil sanctions and financial measures that Washington has imposed.

At the same time, the Trump administration is readying further possible sanctions on Venezuela, the official said.

Previous rounds have targeted dozens of Venezuelan military and government officials, including Maduro himself, and last month finally hit the OPEC member’s vital oil sector.

With Post wires