Tag Archives: Venezuela

Venezuela’s injured activists struggle to heal

Jofre Rodriguez, 18, who was injured during a protest against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro's government, poses for a photograph at his home in Turmero, Venezuela, August 11, 2017. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino

By Andreina Aponte

CARACAS (Reuters) – Jesus Ibarra, a 19-year-old engineering student, has been barely able to walk or talk since a tear gas canister crushed part of his skull during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro and he fell unconscious into a river that carries sewage.

Chronic shortages of medicine in Venezuela forced his family to ask for drug donations so Ibarra could undergo five surgeries on his skull and treatment for infections from the Guaire river.

Ibarra, who cannot return to his studies any time soon, needs to a sixth operation and therapy. It is unclear if he will fully recover.

“I speak to my son a lot, and sometimes he makes me understand it was not worth suffering this, that he regrets it, that it was a mistake,” said Ibarra’s father Jose at their small home in the sprawling hilltop slum of Petare in Caracas.

“But other times he’s clearly telling me that it was worth fighting for a change he believes in.”

Ibarra is one of nearly 2,000 people injured during four months of fierce anti-Maduro street protests, according to the public prosecutor’s office. Rights groups think the number is probably higher.

Venezuela has been torn by political and economic crises that have led to extreme shortages of food and medicine, crushing inflation and the collapse of the local currency. Its new government structure has been criticized as a dictatorship.

Rubber bullets fired at close range, rocks, and tear gas canisters have caused most of the injuries, doctors and rights groups say. Most of those who have been hurt appear to be opposition protesters, but Maduro supporters, security forces and bystanders have also been harmed.

More than 125 people have died in the unrest since April. Thousands have been arrested.

The unpopular leftist president has said he was facing an armed insurgency intent on overthrowing him.

Opposition politicians have said they were forced to take to the streets after authorities curtailed democratic means for change. They have also accused security forces of using excessive force against protesters.

Culinary student Brian Dalati, 22, said he was passing an opposition-manned street barricade on his way to classes in July when police mistook him for a protester. They hit him and fired buckshot at his legs, fracturing both of Dalati’s shinbones.

“I depend on my siblings to go to the bathroom, shower, brush my teeth, eat, anything. It’s infuriating,” he said. “They didn’t have to do this. It was pure hate. Thank goodness I will be able to walk again soon.”

The government says right-wing media are too focused on injuries to protesters.

Maduro has pointed to a case in which a 21-year-old man was set afire during an opposition protest and died two weeks later. A Reuters witness said the crowd had accused the man of being a thief, but the government said he was targeted for being a Maduro supporter.

Protests have subsided since Maduro’s government established a controversial legislative superbody three weeks ago, but hundreds of Venezuelans are still struggling to nurse their wounds without medicine and state support.

(Click on http://reut.rs/2xt4eoS for related photo essay)

(Additional reporting by Ueslei Marcelino, Liamar Ramos, and Rodrigo Gutierrez; Writing by Alexandra Ulmer)

U.S. weighs ban on trade in Venezuela debt: U.S. official

President Donald Trump waves to Marines as he departs Marine Corps Air Station Yuma in Yuma, Arizona. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration is considering additional sanctions against Venezuela’s government, including a ban on trading the country’s debt, a U.S. administration official with knowledge of discussions said on Wednesday.

“It is just one option that is being talked about,” the official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Wall Street Journal, which first reported on Tuesday the possibility that the United States could prohibit trading of some Venezuelan bonds, said one option would be a ban on trading of new debt issued by Venezuela or its state-owned entities, with an exemption for debt issued under the authority of the National Assembly that Maduro has stripped of power.

Venezuela bonds fell on Wednesday.

The Trump administration has imposed sanctions against Maduro and senior officials in his administration to punish them for what the United States sees as their role in undermining democracy in the oil-producing country.

On Aug. 9, Washington imposed sanctions against eight more individuals, including the brother of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, speaking in Miami on Wednesday, said the Trump administration was ready to do more.

“You may be assured that under the leadership of President Donald Trump, the United States will continue to bring the full measure of American economic and diplomatic power to bear until democracy is restored in Venezuela,” Pence said, urging Latin America to also do more to pressure Maduro’s government.

“The United States has already issued three rounds of targeted sanctions against Maduro and his inner circle, and there is more to come,” Pence said.

Venezuela’s government has around $2 billion in available cash to make $1.3 billion in bond payments by the end of the year and to cover imports of food and medicine, Reuters reported in August.

The funds that could be used for debt payment include $1.3 billion in cash and IMF Special Drawing Rights held in central bank reserves, and $700 million in separate accounts that the central bank lists as “other financial assets,” according to a report by local firm Financial Synthesis.

(Reporting by Tim Ahmann and Lesley Wroughton; editing by Mohammad Zargham)

Venezuela-U.S. relations at lowest point ever: Maduro

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro talks to the media during a news conference at Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela August 22, 2017. REUTERS/Marco Bello

By Brian Ellsworth and Julia Symmes Cobb

CARACAS/BOGOTA (Reuters) – Relations between Caracas and Washington are at their lowest point ever, Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro said on Tuesday in a speech at the presidential palace for international media that was televised to the nation.

“Unfortunately we are in the worst moment of the relationship with the government of the United States,” said Maduro.

He said that he and U.S. President Donald Trump should be respectful of each other and that relations between Venezuela and the United States should be normalized and a dialog established. “You and I should talk,” said Maduro. “Only by speaking can we understand each other.”

Earlier this month during an impromptu session with reporters in Washington, Trump said, “The people are suffering and they are dying. We have many options for Venezuela including a possible military option if necessary.”

Maduro is struggling to weather a political crisis that has shaken his government, led to months of violent protests and his being accused of trying to establish a dictatorship through a new structure for the government that has been opposed nationally and internationally.

Venezuela is also racked by a severe economic crisis that has led to chronic shortages of food and medicine.

During his address on Tuesday, Maduro spoke at length about actions the United States has taken in the region and elsewhere, specifically mentioning the war in Iraq.

Maduro, like his predecessor Hugo Chavez, has frequently railed against Washington, blaming it for Venezuela’s problems, including crushing inflation and the collapse of the local currency.

In recent weeks, the government has cracked down on the opposition including one of Maduro’s most outspoken critics in his government, Venezuela’s top prosecutor Luisa Ortega.

Ortega fled to Colombia last week with her legislator husband after saying she feared for her life. She is now going to Brazil, according to Colombian authorities.

During his speech, Maduro said Venezuela would seek an international arrest warrant for Ortega, and he accused her of having worked with the United States for a long time.

(Reporting by Brian Ellsworth and Julia Symmes Cobb; Additional reporting by Diego Ore; Writing by Girish Gupta; Editing by Toni Reinhold)

Venezuela prepares world summit to defend new legislative body

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro gestures during a rally against U.S President Donald Trump in Caracas, Venezuela, August 14, 2017. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino

By Diego Oré

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela is preparing an international summit to rally support for an all-powerful lawmaking body, whose recent creation drew widespread foreign condemnation as a power grab by leftist President Nicolas Maduro.

Late last month, and in the face of anti-government street protests, Venezuela elected a 545-member constituent assembly at the behest of Maduro.

On Friday the assembly granted itself lawmaking powers. It was the latest blow to an opposition-controlled congress whose decisions have been nullified by Maduro’s loyalist Supreme Court.

The United States slapped Maduro and a number of Venezuela leaders with sanctions, and U.S. President Donald Trump said military action was among the options he was considering for Venezuela.

“We have drawn up a plan to call a worldwide solidarity with the people of Venezuela, against Donald Trump’s threat and in defense of the constituent assembly,” Maduro said in a television interview on Sunday.

“This world summit will have a combination of preparatory events in various countries around the world, and it will start this week,” Maduro said.

Maduro said help with organizing the summit would come from a regional bloc called The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

The constituent assembly was elected on July 30 to rewrite the constitution, which Maduro billed as the only solution to bring about peace after more than four months of deadly opposition protests.

The opposition boycotted the election, calling it an affront to democracy. It wants an early presidential election, which it is sure Maduro will lose as his popularity falls along with an economy blighted by triple-digit inflation and acute shortages of food and medicine.

A bloc of countries called the Lima Group, including Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia and seven other nations in the hemisphere, late on Friday joined the United States in criticizing the assembly for “usurping” congress’s powers.

Anti-government marches have stalled since the assembly was inaugurated on Aug. 5. In its first working session, the assembly fired Venezuela’s chief prosecutor Luisa Ortega, who had accused Maduro of human right abuses.

Ortega fled to neighboring Colombia last week. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said on Monday that she was under the protection of his government and would be granted asylum if she requested it.

(Additional reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb in Bogota; Writing by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by W Simon)

Regional nations plus U.S. condemn Venezuela’s new constituent assembly

Delcy Rodriguez (C), president of the National Constituent Assembly, speaks during a meeting of the Truth Commission in Caracas, Venezuela August 16, 2017. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino

By Hugh Bronstein and Mitra Taj

CARACAS/LIMA (Reuters) – A group of 12 regional nations plus the United States rejected Venezuela’s new government-allied legislative superbody, saying they would continue to regard the opposition-controlled congress as the country’s only legitimate law maker.

The move came after an announcement on Friday that the newly-created constituent assembly, elected in late July to re-write the crisis-hit country’s constitution, would supersede congress and pass laws on its own.

The Lima Group, including Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia and seven other regional governments, late on Friday joined the United States in criticizing the assembly for “usurping” the powers of Venezuela’s tradition congress.

The congress has been controlled by the opposition since 2016, but has been neutered by President Nicolas Maduro’s loyalist Supreme Court, which has tossed out almost every law it has passed.

“We reiterate our rejection of the constituent assembly and its actions,” the 12-member Lima Group said in a statement published by Peru’s foreign ministry.

“We ratify our full support for the Venezuelan congress.” it added.

Maduro has slapped the opposition with several measures blaming it for the unrest that killed more than 125 people in recent months as security forces met rock-throwing protesters with rubber bullets and water cannon. The U.N. says government troops used excessive force in many cases.

One of the measures is the assembly’s new truth commission that will investigate opposition candidates running in October gubernatorial elections, to see if they were involved in the deadly protests. Considering that many opposition figures supported the demonstrations, the commission could hobble their efforts at winning governorships in the upcoming vote.

Anti-government marches have stalled since the assembly was inaugurated on Aug. 5. The opposition was stunned by a threat of U.S. military action in Venezuela issued by President Donald Trump on Aug. 11.

The threat played into Maduro’s hands by supporting his oft-repeated assertion that the U.S. “empire” wants to invade Venezuela to steal its oil. The idea had been easily dismissed as absurd by opposition and U.S. officials before Trump’s surprise statement that “a military option” was on the table for dealing with Venezuela’s political crisis.

Over the days ahead the assembly says it will pass a law against “expressions of hate and intolerance,” which rights groups say is so vaguely worded it could allow for the prosecution of almost anyone who voices dissent.

(Reporting by Hugh Bronstein and Mitra Taj; Editing by Andrew Bolton)

Venezuela’s new chief prosecutor vows to jail protest leaders

Delcy Rodriguez (R), president of the National Constituent Assembly, speaks next to Venezuela's chief prosecutor, Tarek William Saab, during a meeting of the Truth Commission in Caracas, Venezuela August 16, 2017. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino

By Hugh Bronstein

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela will hunt down and jail leaders of violent protests that have rocked the country since April, its new top prosecutor said on Thursday, a day before a hate crimes law was expected to be approved despite fears that it will be used to crush dissent.

The new law “against hate and intolerance,” denounced by rights groups as a sham aimed at persecuting the opposition, was set to be approved on Friday by a new legislative superbody elected last month at the behest of President Nicolas Maduro.

Maduro loyalist Delcy Rodriguez, head of the body known as the constituent assembly, said the law would be passed before the weekend. She spoke to the assembly following a speech by chief prosecutor Tarek Saab, appointed by the assembly early this month, who vowed to track down the leaders of protests in which more than 120 people have died since the start of April.

“It will be a point of honor for the public prosecutor’s office to identify who was responsible for each of the hate crimes that occurred in this country,” Saab, Maduro’s ex-human rights ombudsman, shouted during a speech to the assembly.

“We will search the cameras, videos, photographs. We will get images of each one of them to make sure they pay for having killed, for having hurt people and left orphans behind,” he said to a standing ovation by the Socialist Party-dominated assembly.

The international community, however, has pointed at the Maduro government, not opposition demonstrators, when assigning blame for deaths.

Venezuelan security forces and pro-government groups were believed responsible for the deaths of at least 73 demonstrators since April, the United Nations said in an Aug. 8 report.

Abuses of protesters, including torture, were part of “the breakdown of the rule of law” in the oil-rich but economically-ailing nation, the report said.

Those found guilty of expressing hate or intolerance will be punished with up to 25 years in jail, according to the vaguely worded hate crimes bill.

Groups like Human Rights Watch say it would give Maduro’s government carte blanche to take opposition leaders out of circulation ahead of October gubernatorial elections.

The assembly has established a truth commission to investigate opposition candidates to ensure that any who were involved in violent protests would be barred from running for governorships, Rodriguez said.

The opposition, which won control of congress in 2015 only to see its decisions nullified by Maduro’s loyalist Supreme Court, boycotted the July 30 election of the constituent assembly. The body has sweeping powers to re-write Venezuela’s constitution and even give Maduro permission to rule by decree.

(Additional reporting by Deisy Buitrago; Editing by Michael Perry; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Venezuela’s Socialist-run ‘truth commission’ to investigate opposition

Delcy Rodriguez (R), president of the National Constituent Assembly, speaks next to Venezuela's chief prosecutor, Tarek William Saab, during a meeting of the Truth Commission in Caracas, Venezuela August 16, 2017. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino

By Hugh Bronstein

CARACAS (Reuters) – Opposition candidates running in Venezuela’s October gubernatorial elections will be investigated to make sure none were involved in violent political protests this year, the head of a new pro-government truth commission said on Wednesday.

The panel was set up earlier in the day by the constituent assembly elected last month at the behest of socialist President Nicolas Maduro. Government critics say the commission is designed to sideline the opposition and bolster the ruling party’s flagging support ahead of the October vote.

Also before the assembly is a bill that would punish those who express “hate or intolerance” with up 25 years in jail. The opposition fears such a law would be used to silence criticism of a government that, according to local rights group Penal Forum is, is already holding 676 political prisoners.

“Whoever goes into the streets to express intolerance and hatred, will be captured and will be tried and punished with sentences of 15, 20, 25 years of jail,” Maduro said last week.

Over 120 people have died in four months of protests against the president’s handling of an economy beset by triple-digit inflation and acute food shortages.

Maduro loyalist Delcy Rodriguez was named as head of the truth commission, on top of being president of the assembly. She said she would ask the country’s CNE elections authority for information about candidates running in October.

“We have decided to ask the CNE to send a complete list of gubernatorial candidates to the truth commission in order to determine if any of the them were involved in incidents of violence,” Rodriguez told the assembly, stressing this would have a “cleansing effect” on Venezuela.

“We have seen tweets, messages on social networks and photographs of opposition leaders responsible for convening and organizing violent events in Venezuela,” Rodriguez told the commission on Wednesday.

“JAIL ANYONE, FOR ALMOST ANYTHING”

Maduro defends the all-powerful assembly as the country’s only hope for peace and prosperity.

“The question is whether this is the peace he’s looking for: creating a law that gives him and his obedient supreme court judiciary powers to lock up dissidents for 25 years,” Tamara Taraciuk, head Venezuela researcher for Human Rights Watch, said in a Wednesday telephone interview.

“The proposal includes incredibly vague language that would allow them to jail anyone for almost anything,” she added.

The opposition, which won control of congress in 2015 but has seen its decisions nullified by Maduro’s loyalist Supreme Court, boycotted the late July election of the assembly.

‘ENTRENCHED IMPUNITY’

In its first session after being elected on July 30, the assembly fired Venezuela’s top prosecutor Luisa Ortega and appointed a Maduro loyalist to replace her.

The Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists said in a report on Wednesday that Ortega’s dismissal “removes one of the last remaining institutional checks on executive authority.”

The country’s new chief prosecutor, Maduro’s ex-human rights ombudsman Tarek Saab, on Wednesday outlined corruption accusations against Ortega and her husband German Ferrer.

They, and members of Ortega’s former staff of prosecutors, are accused of running an “extortion gang” and funneling profits to an account in the Bahamas, the new chief prosecutor said.

“The Sebin (intelligence service) is raiding my house right now as part of the government’s revenge for our fight against totalitarianism in Venezuela,” Ortega said on Twitter late Wednesday afternoon.

It was not immediately possible to reach Ferrer. In the past, his wife Ortega has said accusations against them are politically motivated.

(Additional reporting by Diego Ore, Alexandra Ulmer and Girish Gupta, Editing by Clive McKeef, and Alexandra Ulmer)

Venezuela’s Maduro calls for military exercises after Trump threat

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro stands next to a sign that reads "Trump go away from Latin America" gives a speech at a rally against U.S President Donald Trump in Caracas, Venezuela August 14, 2017. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino

By Brian Ellsworth and Hugh Bronstein

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday called for military exercises after U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat of a possible armed intervention in the country, but Maduro insisted he still wanted to hold talks with the U.S. leader.

As Maduro told supporters in Caracas to prepare for an “imperialist” invasion, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence sought to calm concerns in the region about Trump’s talk, promising a peaceful solution to Venezuela’s “collapse into dictatorship.”

The unpopular Maduro, struggling with a disintegrating economy at home and increasing diplomatic isolation abroad, has used Trump’s comments on Friday to reaffirm long-standing accusations that Washington is preparing a military attack.

“Everyone has to join the defense plan, millions of men and women, let’s see how the American imperialists like it,” Maduro told supporters, urging them to join the two-day operation on Aug 26 and 27 involving both soldiers and civilians.

Thousands of government supporters rallied in Caracas where they denounced Trump’s suggestion of a “military option” to resolve Venezuela’s crisis.

Over 120 people have been killed since anti-government protests began in April, driven by outrage over shortages of food and medicine and Maduro’s creation of a legislative superbody that governments around the world say is dictatorial.

Maduro said Trump’s advisors had confused him about the true situation in Venezuela.

“I want to talk by phone with Mr. Trump, to tell him ‘They’re fooling you, Trump, everything they tell you about Venezuela is a lie. They’re throwing you off a cliff.'”

The White House last week rebuffed Maduro’s request to speak to Trump, saying the president would talk with Venezuela’s leader when the country returned to democracy.

‘FAILED STATE’

Earlier in the day, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino appeared in a televised broadcast with dozens of battle-ready troops behind him at an army base, including soldiers with shoulder-fired missile launchers pointed skyward.

In a speech, he warned that the United States wanted to steal the OPEC nation’s oil reserves.

Late socialist leader Hugo Chavez frequently staged military exercises during his 14-year rule, many of which involved defending the country against mock foreign armies.

Critics generally dismissed them as bravado meant to distract from problems at home.

Venezuela’s opposition coalition on Sunday rejected foreign threats to the country. It did not specifically identify Trump or the United States, but criticized Maduro’s close relationship with Communist-run Cuba.

Vice President Pence said the United States would bring economic and diplomatic power to restore democracy in Venezuela.

“A failed state in Venezuela threatens the security and prosperity of our entire hemisphere and the people of the United States of America,” said Pence, speaking to reporters in the Colombian coastal city of Cartagena.

“The regime is experiencing change right now and what we’re witnessing is Venezuela is collapsing into dictatorship.”

Countries across Latin America, where the United States flexed its military muscles throughout the 20th century, rejected Trump’s comments and said U.S. intervention was unwelcome.

On Sunday night, in an apparent effort to ease alarm, Pence said the United States was confident that a peaceful solution could be found to the country’s political and economic crises.

The country last month, at Maduro’s behest, elected a “constituent assembly” with sweeping powers including the capacity to rewrite the constitution. Maduro says the assembly will bring peace to the country.

His adversaries boycotted the election, calling it a power grab meant to keep the ruling Socialist Party in power and insisting it will do nothing to tame soaring inflation or resolve food and medicine shortages.

(Additional reporting by Tim Ahmann in Washington and Julia Symmes Cobb in Bogota, Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Andrew Hay)

Latin America slams Trump’s Venezuela ‘military options’ threat

Venezuela's Presidente Nicolas Maduro gestures as he speaks during a session of the National Constituent Assembly at Palacio Federal Legislativo in Caracas, Venezuela August 10, 2017. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino

By Brian Ellsworth and Mitra Taj

CARACAS/LIMA (Reuters) – After months of attacking Venezuela’s unpopular President Nicolas Maduro, Latin America came out strongly against U.S. threats of military action against the struggling OPECnation.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s surprise comments on Friday may give beleaguered leftist leader Maduro a regional boost, just as Venezuela was on verge of becoming a pariah.

Following Trump’s comment on Friday that military intervention in Venezuela was an option, Maduro’s critics are caught between backing the idea of a foreign invasion of Venezuela or supporting a president they call a dictator.

The surprise escalation of Washington’s response to Venezuela’s crisis came as U.S. Vice President Mike Pence was set to begin a regional trip on Sunday that will bring him to Colombia, Argentina, Chile, and Panama.

Venezuela’s powerful Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino on Friday disparaged U.S. threats as “craziness” and Foreign minister Jorge Arreaza said on Saturday Venezuela rejected “hostile” threats, calling on Latin America to unite against Washington.

“We want to express gratitude for all the expressions of solidarity and rejection of the use of force from governments around the world, including Latin America,” said Arreaza, in a short speech on Saturday.

“Some of these countries have recently taken positions absolutely contrary to our sovereignty and independence but still have rejected the declarations of the U.S. president.”

It was one of Maduro’s fiercest critics, Peru, that led the charge slamming Trump, saying his threat was against U.N. principles. Mexico and Colombia joined in with statements of their own.

Regional alliance Mercosur added that it rejected the use of force against Venezuela, despite having indefinitely suspended the country last week.

Peru is negotiating a written response with other nations in the region, Foreign Minister Ricardo Luna said in a statement sent exclusively to Reuters on Saturday. The statement came the day after Peru expelled Venezuela’s ambassador in Lima.

“All foreign or domestic threats to resort to force undermine the goal of reinstating democratic governance in Venezuela, as well as the principles enshrined in the UN charter,” said Luna.

Peru under President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski has taken the toughest stance yet toward Venezuela’s socialist government, and has openly called Maduro a “dictator”.

Venezuela is undergoing a major economic and social crisis, with millions suffering food and medicine shortages, soaring inflation and months-long anti-government unrest that has killed more than 120 people.

Maduro has faced withering criticism from around the world for leading the formation of an all-powerful legislature that critics call the creation of a dictatorship. He says it will bring peace to the OPEC member nation.

The ruling Socialist Party has for years accused the United States of plotting an invasion as a way of controlling its oil reserves, the world’s largest, through a military intervention similar to the Iraq war.

Previous U.S. administrations had brushed this off as politicized rhetoric meant to distract from Venezuela’s domestic problems.

Under former President Barack Obama, the State Department in 2015 made quiet diplomatic overtures that led to several high-level meetings. The effort ultimately foundered as Maduro hardened his stance against opposition critics.

Venezuela’s Information Minister Vladimir Villegas on Saturday tweeted a picture of the Statue of Liberty holding a machine gun instead of a torch, and a link to an article describing, “A Chronology of U.S. ‘Military Options’ in Latam and the Caribbean.”

(Additional reporting by Caroline Stauffer in Buenos Aires, Julia Love in Mexico City and Helen Murphy in Bogota; Writing by Girish Gupta; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Chizu Nomiyama)

Trump threatens Venezuela with unspecified ‘military option’

Trump threatens Venezuela with unspecified 'military option'

By James Oliphant

BEDMINSTER, N.J. (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday threatened military intervention in Venezuela, a surprise escalation of Washington’s response to Venezuela’s political crisis that Caracas disparaged as “craziness.”

Venezuela has appeared to slide toward a more volatile stage of unrest in recent days, with anti-government forces looting weapons from a military base after a new legislative body usurped the authority of the opposition-controlled congress.

“The people are suffering and they are dying. We have many options for Venezuela including a possible military option if necessary,” Trump told reporters in an impromptu question and answer session.

The comments appeared to shock Caracas, with Venezuela’s Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino calling the threat “an act of craziness.”

The White House said Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro requested a phone call with Trump on Friday, which the White House appeared to spurn, saying in a statement that Trump would gladly speak to Venezuela’s leader when democracy was restored in that country.

Venezuelan authorities have long said U.S. officials were planning an invasion. A former military general told Reuters earlier this year that some anti-aircraft missiles had been placed along the country’s coast for precisely that eventuality.

In Washington, the Pentagon said the U.S. military was ready to support efforts to protect U.S. citizens and America’s national interests, but that insinuations by Caracas of a planned U.S. invasion were “baseless.”

Trump’s suggestion of possible military action came in a week when he has repeatedly threatened a military response if North Korea threatens the United States or its allies.

Asked if U.S. forces would lead an operation in Venezuela, Trump declined to provide details. “We don’t talk about it but a military operation – a military option – is certainly something that we could pursue,” he said.

Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, criticized Trump’s new stance.

“Congress obviously isn’t authorizing war in Venezuela,” he said in a statement. “Nicolas Maduro is a horrible human being, but Congress doesn’t vote to spill Nebraskans’ blood based on who the Executive lashes out at today.”

‘MADURO MUST BE THRILLED’

The president’s comments conjured up memories of gunboat diplomacy in Latin America during the 20th century, when the United States regarded its “backyard” neighbors to the south as underlings who it could easily intimidate through conspicuous displays of military power.

The U.S. military has not directly intervened in the region since a 1994-1995 operation that aimed to remove from Haiti a military government installed after a 1991 coup.

Trump’s more aggressive discourse could be an asset to Maduro by boosting his credibility as a national defender.

“Maduro must be thrilled right now,” said Mark Feierstein, who was a senior aide on Venezuela matters to former U.S. president Barack Obama. “It’s hard to imagine a more damaging thing for Trump to say.”

The United States sanctioned Maduro and other Venezuelan officials in July after Maduro established a constituent assembly run by his Socialist Party loyalists and cracked down on opposition figures. The assembly’s election drew international condemnation and critics have said it removed any remaining checks on Maduro’s power.

Maduro says only continuing the socialist movement started by his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, can bring peace and prosperity to Venezuela, which is suffering from an economic collapse and widespread hunger.

Washington has not placed sanctions on the OPEC member’s oil industry, which supplies America with about 740,000 barrels per day of oil.

Venezuela possesses a stockpile of 5,000 Russian-made MANPADS surface-to-air weapons, according to military documents reviewed by Reuters. It has the largest known cache of the weapons in Latin America, posing a concern for U.S. officials during the country’s mounting turmoil.

The United Nations Security Council was briefed behind closed doors on Venezuela in May at the request of the United States. At the time, U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said Washington was just trying to raise awareness of the situation and was not seeking any action by the 15-member Security Council.

(Reporting by James Oliphant; Additional reporting by Hugh Bronstein and Girish Gupta in Caracas; Writing by Jason Lange in Washington; Editing by Andrew Hay and Mary Milliken)