‘New day coming’ as Trump woos troops
US President Donald Trump has pleaded with Venezuela’s military to support opposition leader Juan Guaido, and issued a dire warning if they continue to stand with President Nicolas Maduro’s government.
‘‘You will find no safe harbour, no easy exit and no way out. You will lose everything,’’ Trump said in a speech at Florida International University in Miami before large American and Venezuelan flags.
Trump added: ‘‘We seek a peaceful transition of power, but all options are open.’’
The Venezuelan military could play a decisive role in the stalemate but has largely remained loyal to Maduro.
In remarks broadcast on state television, Maduro accused the US president of speaking in an ‘‘almost Nazi style’’ and lashed out at Trump for thinking he could deliver orders to Venezuela’s military.
Trump said ‘‘a new day is coming in Latin America’’ as he sought to rally support among the largest Venezuelan community in the US for Guaido. The US recognises him as the country’s rightful president and condemns Maduro’s government and its socialist policies. Critics say Maduro’s reelection last year was fraudulent.
As the months-long political crisis stretches on, Venezuela’s military has blocked the US from moving tonnes of humanitarian aid airlifted in recent days to the Colombian border with Venezuela. The aid shipments have been meant in part to dramatise the hyperinflation and shortages of food and medicine that are gripping Venezuela.
Venezuela’s power struggle is headed for a potentially violent showdown on Saturday, when Guaido will try to run caravans of US humanitarian aid across the border from Colombia. Maduro denies the a humanitarian crisis exists, blaming the Trump administration for mounting a coup against him.
More than 2 million Venezuelans have fled the country in the last two years, most flooding across the border into Colombia, Brazil and Peru.
Trump urged the Venezuelan military to accept Guaido’s offer of amnesty and refrain from violence against those opposing Maduro’s government.
South Florida is home to more than 100,000 Venezuelans and VenezuelanAmericans, the largest concentration in the country. Speaking in the presidential battleground state, Trump also sought to draw a contrast with the policies of progressive Democrats, which he brands as ‘‘socialist’’, as he gears up for re-election. He said socialism had ‘‘completely ravaged’’ Venezuela.
Guaido addressed the crowd in a prerecorded video released by the White House, and thanked Trump and the state of Florida for their support.
‘‘Now there is a debate between the democracy and dictatorship – one between life and death,’’ Guaido said in Spanish.
‘‘President Trump is two-faced on the Venezuela issue,’’ said Florida Democratic Party chairwoman Terrie Rizzo. ‘‘He talks about fighting the Maduro regime, but his administration keeps deporting and detaining Venezuelans fleeing repression from the Maduro regime.’’