Pence visits South Florida
Assures Venezuelans they have U.S. support
Vice President Mike Pence assured South Florida Venezuelans that the U.S. would use the full measure of its economic and diplomatic power to end repression in the South American country, hinting at more sanctions to punish the nation’s leaders.
But in a speech Wednesday in Doral, he stopped short of the stronger rhetoric of President Donald Trump, who said Aug. 11 he would not rule out a “military option” to quell chaos in Venezuela. The vice president focused on diplomatic and economic options.
“We are with you,” he told a crowd of a few hundred at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church. “We will stand with you until democracy is restored.”
Pence said the Trump administration has implemented three rounds of targeted sanctions against the country’s regime, and there will be “more to come.”
He said the administration has “many options” to punish President Nicolas Maduro’s government, but he refrained
from offering specifics, instead speaking in broader terms about the need to push for freedom in Venezuela.
“You may be assured,” Pence said. “Under the leadership of President Donald Trump, the United States of America will continue to bring the full measure of American economic and diplomatic power to bear until democracy is restored in Venezuela.”
Pence told the crowd that by working with Latin American allies he’s confident a “peaceable solution” can be reached.
Doral is home to the largest Venezuelan community in the United States. More than 80,000 people of Venezuelan ancestry are now living in South Florida, including a large community in Weston.
Raymond Rondon, 68, traveled from Weston to listen to Pence’s speech. He visited his native country in October.
The nation was nothing like he remembered from his youth, he said.
“I saw kids eating out of the garbage because they were so hungry,” Rondon said.
The crowd cheered loudly when Trump’s name was mentioned and occasionally chanted “libertad.” Several in the pews proudly displayed the Venezuelan flag.
Following Trump’s remarks earlier this month, Pence embarked on a tour of Central and South American countries, visiting Colombia, Argentina, Chile and Panama.
Gov. Rick Scott, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and Pence met privately with 16 Venezuelan exiles before the vice president delivered his roughly half-hour speech.
Scott told the crowd the state will no longer do business with companies controlled by the Maduro regime, saying in Spanish, “The people of Venezuela deserve freedom.”
Rubio addressed the crowd in both English and Spanish, demanding free and fair elections, the release of political prisoners and an end of repression.
“This is a humanitarian and political crisis,” Rubio said. “A humanitarian crisis created by a failed, incompetent regime that has taken one of the richest countries in the world and destroyed its economy.”
Several people who attended said they want the United States to provide military aide in addition to employing diplomatic and economic force.
Andreina Kissane, 42, a Venezuelan living in Pinecrest, said she favors immediate military action to help the people suffering there.
“I am very afraid to go to my country,” she said. “I am afraid I won’t come back alive.”
Jenny Avila, 37, of Doral, held a sign that read, “Venezuelan resistance asks for military assistance. We can’t do it alone.”
She said she doesn’t think freedom can be achieved in Venezuela unless dissenters are protected from violence.