Asked whether he sees the United States becoming involved militarily in Venezuela, and how such a scenario might play out, Abrams said, "No, I do not see it"
"I do not see it. And one of the things that's sort of notable about the discussion about the use of force is that is not the policy of the United States. The policy is to pursue humanitarian, economic, diplomatic paths forward to try to support the Venezuelan people's desire for democracy, and when we say all options are on the table that's because all options are always on the table. That's not the preferred route and that's not the route we are going down."
"It's a simple and unequivocal no. There have been no such transfers of arms," Abrams said.
When asked if the United States has increased troop deployments to countries like Colombia neighboring Venezuela in the last month, Abrams said "I don't believe so."
On Political Aspects on Venezuelan Issue
According to the special envoy, the United States has introduced visas against the members of Venezuela's Supreme Court.
"Over the next weeks and months we will continue our pressure against [Venezuelan President Nicolas] Maduro and his inner circle," Abrams said. "Last week, I announced visa restrictions and revocations on members of the illegitimate Constituent Assembly. Today, we can add we have imposed visa restrictions and revoked visas on members of the TSJ, the illegitimate Supreme Court."
READ MORE: US to Push Anti-Maduro Resolution Amid Fears of Venezuela Intervention — Report
The senior official further called on Congress to recognise opposition leader Juan Guaido as the interim president of Venezuela.
"We have 51 countries, including the United States, that now recognize him [Guaido] as the interim legitimate president of Venezuela. I think it would be really valuable for Congress to join that crowd," Abrams told the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.
Earlier in the day, House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel said during a hearing on the crisis in Venezuela that Congress would not support a US military intervention in Venezuela.
The crisis in the Latin American country escalated after opposition head Juan Guaido declared himself the interim head of state, and was later acknowledged by a number of countries, including the US, regional states and eleven EU states.
Russia, Mexico, China, Turkey, Uruguay and several other countries, in their turn, came forward to reaffirm their support for Maduro as the country's only legitimate democratically elected head of state.
