USA’s Pompeo – Military action not excluded – Venezuela crisis – Update and Roundup
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday continued to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s regime to back down as unrest in the country continues to escalate, continuing to say that military interference is not off the table.
“Every option is on the table, we’re going to do the things that need to be done to make sure that the Venezuelan people’s voice, that democracy reigns and that there’s a brighter future for the people of Venezuela,” Pompeo said during an interview on “Fox News Sunday“ when asked whether the U.S. is considering a military option in Venezuela.- POLITICO
Tear gas and rocks flew in San António del Táchira, near Venezuela’s border with Colombia on Saturday.
Protesters were faced with riot police who stopped international aid from entering the country.
On the other side of the border, in Cúcuta, Colombia, opposition leader Juan Guaidó, wanted to ensure aid entered Venezuela.
He said, “We ask that all the cards remain on the table. I will participate in that summit, at that meeting of the Lima Group to meet with the Foreign Ministers of the region and also with the Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence, to discuss possible diplomatic solutions and possible actions to cooperate in a cooperative way, a sovereign way”.
Meanwhile, in the Venezuelan capital, president Nicolas Maduro showed nothing had changed except the relationship with Colombia.
Maduro said, “I have decided to break all political and diplomatic relations with Colombia`’s fascist government. All their ambassadors and diplomats are to leave Venezuela in 24 hours.” – Via Euronews
Troops loyal to President Nicolas Maduro violently drove back foreign aid convoys from Venezuela’s border on Saturday, killing two protesters and prompting opposition leader Juan Guaido to propose that Washington consider “all options” to oust him.
Trucks laden with U.S. food and medicine returned to warehouses in Colombia after opposition supporters failed to break through lines of troops, who dispersed them with tear gas and rubber rounds, injuring dozens. Witnesses said masked men in civilian clothes also shot at protesters with live bullets.
“Today’s events force me to make a decision: to formally propose to the international community that we must have all options open to secure the freedom of our country,” Guaido said on Twitter.
The United States has been the top foreign backer of Guaido, who invoked Venezuela’s constitution to assume an interim presidency last month and is now recognized by most Western nations as the OPEC nation’s legitimate leader.
via Reuters
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has denounced President Nicolas Maduro’s obstruction of aid deliveries to Venezuela as the actions of a “sick tyrant.”
At the call of opposition leader and the nation’s self-declared interim president, Juan Guaido, foreign aid has been shipped to Venezuela in response to worsening food and medicine shortages.
Maduro, who has been in a standoff with Guaido for the presidency, denies that a humanitarian crisis exists in Venezuela and suggests that aid efforts are part of a US plot to orchestrate a coup.
