Donald Trump wanted set up a blockaide….
That didn’t fly…
The US has now gone back to a 70 year mutual defense agreement with Columbia and other South American countries that would enable them, with the US to use economic, political AND military action against another country…
This is about unseating Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from office….
And?
Pentagon officials also see a Russian/Cuba part in Venezuela….
The situation IS complicated…
“If your neighbor’s house is burning down, do you stand and shout you should not intervene, or do you help your neighbor put out the fire?” Carlos Trujillo, U.S. ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), said in a heated debate on the issue Wednesday.
Colombia has charged that Maduro, who announced military exercises on their shared border last week, is hosting and arming Colombian guerrillas who have threatened to reignite a terrorist campaign, including what Colombia’s intelligence service contends are plans to begin bombing central sites in Bogota, the capital, according to U.S. and Latin American officials.
President Trump has expressed frustration at Maduro’s staying power, eight months after the administration recognized a new, opposition-led government in Venezuela and began imposing heavy sanctions on Maduro officials and the country’s oil-dominated economy. Last week, he criticized his fired national security adviser, John Bolton, who was orchestrating the policy. Mocking him as “Mr. Tough Guy” on a variety of issues, Trump said Bolton was “holding me back” on Venezuela….
A Republican President war mongering to try and get reelected. . Whodve thunk it?!
If such intervention were appropriate, it should have come months ago, when there was momentum for recognizing Juán Guaido as Venezuela’s true president and there were active throngs of protestors against the Maduro régime. There certainly would have been resistance (perhaps backed by Russia & Cuba) by the dedicated Bolivarians (which I’ve heard number a hardly negligible one-fifth of the population), but there would have been a clear candidate to take the reins after a brief multi-national intervention. This was not the case in Libya, Iraq, Somalia or Afghanistan.
Well DSD….
Trump seems to be stuck on getting this guy gone…
I never knew the Columbia and Cuba/Russian angle…
Trump’s Russian friends seem to be in the background, eh?
The Trump administration will suspend all flights to Cuba outside of Havana beginning in December, AP reports, doubling down on travel restrictions to the island.
The big picture: The U.S. aims to prevent tourism to Cuba and restrict the island’s income so it may rescind support for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, per AP, and afford “more human rights to Cuban citizens.”
More…