Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Caracas rejects Trump’s ‘military option’
CARACAS, Venezuela — President Donald Trump’s claim that he is not ruling out “military” action in Venezuela prompted a fresh wave of anti-American sentiment by government officials here, many of whom appeared to be leveraging the threat to stoke dark memories of U.S. interventionism in the region.
President Nicolas Maduro’s backers were apparently seeking to use Trump’s statement as a tool to unite Venezuelans — and the rest of Latin America — against a common enemy to the north.
Felix Seijas Rodriguez, director of the Delphos polling firm, estimated that less than 10 percent of Venezuelans would support military intervention in the country.
“We reject the cowardly, insolent, and vile threats of the President of the United States against the sacred sovereignty of Venezuela,” tweeted Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former foreign minister. She is president of the Constituent Assembly created by a vote last month that has been decried by opponents and foreign leaders as fraudulent.
“Trump’s is the gravest and most insolent threat ever voiced against the homeland of Bolivar,” tweeted Communications Minister Ernesto Villegas.
Trump told journalists Friday: “We are all over the world, and 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. We have many options for Venezuela, including a possible military option, if necessary.”
With all branches of Venezuela’s government and the armed forces now under his control, Maduro’s biggest weakness appears to be the nation’s crumbling economy and growing international isolation.