Trump mulls ‘military option’ on Venezuela as crisis grows
Bedminster (United States) — US President Donald Trump said on Friday he was considering military options as a response to the escalating crisis in Venezuela, a move the South American country quickly shot down as “craziness.”
Washington has slapped sanctions on President Nicolas Maduro and some of his allies, and branded him a “dictator” over his attempts to crush his country’s opposition. Venezuela has in turn accused America of “imperialist aggression.”
But Trump’s latest comments were the first sign that he is mulling military intervention.
“We have many options for Venezuela, including a possible military option if necessary,” Trump told reporters.
“We have troops all over the world in places that are very far away. Venezuela is not very far away and the people are suffering and they’re dying.”
Trump said Venezuela’s political crisis was among the topics discussed at the talks he hosted at his golf club in New Jersey with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley. “Venezuela is a mess. It is very dangerous mess and a very sad situation,” Trump said. But if
We have troops all over the world in places that are very far away. Venezuela is not very far away and the people are suffering and they’re dyingDonald Trump, US president
there is an extremist elite governing the united States and honestly I don’t know what’s happening Vladimir Padrino, Venezuela defence minister
any US military contingency planning is under way, it must be in its early stages. A Pentagon spokesman, Eric Pahon, refused to elaborate on Trump’s comments, adding: “As of right now, the Pentagon has received no orders.”
Pahon cautioned that “the military conducts contingency planning for a variety of situations. If called upon, we are prepared to support whole-of-government efforts to protect our national interest and safeguard US citizens.”
The White House said Trump would only agree to speak with Maduro “as soon as democracy is restored in that country,” after the Venezuelan leader requested a phone call with the American president. Trump’s military warning came two days after his administration imposed new sanctions on Venezuela, targeting members of a loyalist assembly installed last week to bolster what Washington calls Maduro’s “dictatorship.”
General Vladimir Padrino, Venezuela’s defence minister, dismissed the threat as “an act of craziness, an act of supreme extremism.”
“There is an extremist elite governing the United States and honestly I don’t know what’s happening, what is going to happen in the world,” Padrino said.
On Thursday, Maduro declared that Venezuela’s new Constituent Assembly holds supreme power over all branches of government, even over his position, and that its work — ostensibly to rewrite the constitution — would return “peace” to the country. —