Venezuela accuses Rubio, CIA of anti-Maduro plot
WASHINGTON Venezuela’s senior leaders charged Sen. Marco Rubio and the CIA of plotting to topple the government of President Nicolas Mad uro.
With their country descending into crisis, Foreign Minister Samuel Moncada and Carlos Ron, the charge d’affaires of the Venezuela Embassy, accused Rubio and CIA Director Mike Pompeo of secretly conspiring against Caracas so that Washington can install new leaders amenable to U.S. interests.
“What this group is trying to do with Venezuela is basically divide the government, recognize other leaders and foment a conflict with the Venezuelans,” Ron told a small group of reporters in Washington on Tuesday. “This is absolutely unacceptable.”
The South American country with the world’s largest oil reserves is spinning out of control, its economy in tatters and its people starving as oil revenues plummet. Tensions reached a tipping point thisweek ahead of a July 30 vote to change the Venezuelan constitution and strip lawmakers of power. The government argues the change is needed to stabilize the country, but U.S. leaders see it as a move towarda “full dictatorship.”
In a nearly two-hour discussion at the Venezuelan residency in Washington, the Venezuelan officials including interim Ambassador to the Organization of American States Carmen Velasquez criticized U.S. threats of sweeping sanctions targeting Venezuelan oil if the vote isn’t called off.
Ron said the American people are not hearing the full story and accused the United States of unfairly attacking a democratically elected government.
Rubio, who has the ear of the White House, warned of a “very strong response” from Trump if Venezuela goes through with the “fraudulent vote.” He delivered a list of Venezuelan officials to the White House on Tuesday that included the names of people he hopes the Trump administration will issue sanctions against prior to the vote.
“I hope every day this week the administration will take action to make clear that we’re not going to stand by and watch democracy be totally demolished by the Maduro regime,” Rubio said.
Moncada said the vote will take place. Speaking to the group of reporters, he said the clearest indication of the United States’ real intentions came just five days ago when Pompeo addressed the Aspen Institute security forum.
Pompeo told the group the United States has a deep interest in a stable and democratic Venezuela and that he was “hopeful that there can be a transition in Venezuela andwe, the CIA is doing its best to understand the dynamic there.”
“There is a secret operation by the Central Intelligence Agency to split up a democratically elected government,” Moncada said.
The CIA declined to comment.