Trump, rallying in Miami, scorns Venezuelan chief
MIAMI — President Trump delivered his sharpest warning yet to Venezuela’s military authorities Monday in an increasingly tense showdown over that country’s crisis, proclaiming they would “lose everything” by remaining loyal to President Nicolás Maduro and refusing to allow in emergency aid stockpiled on the border.
Trump gave the warning in a speech denouncing Venezuela’s brand of socialism to an enthusiastic crowd in Miami that included many Americans of Venezuelan descent who have fled Venezuela or have relatives in the country, once Latin America’s wealthiest but now facing the greatest economic collapse in generations.
He spoke five days before a deadline that his administration and the Venezuelan opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, have declared for getting humanitarian aid into the country — a move designed to weaken Maduro, who is no longer recognized by the United States and roughly 50 other nations as the country’s president. Trump was the first to recognize Guaidó last month as Maduro’s replacement until new elections can be held.
“We seek a peaceful transition of power, but all options are open,” Trump said. He urged all members of the Venezuelan military to permit the aid into the country, and advised them to accept the opposition’s amnesty offer — or they will find “no safe harbor, no easy exit, and no way out.”
“You will lose everything,” the president said.
Despite the tough language, it remained unclear how the Venezuelan opposition would break Maduro’s blockade of the border with a delivery of food and medication on Saturday. Trump’s own national security adviser said the U.S. military — which has airlifted tons of supplies to Venezuela’s doorstep on the Colombia border — will not cross into the country.
The ambitious land-and-sea campaign would bring humanitarian supplies through Colombia, Brazil and the Caribbean and into the hands of thousands of Venezuelans who have suffered from protracted shortages of food and medicine.
While Guaidó is regarded by the Trump administration as Venezuela’s rightful president, the White House is facing the reality that Maduro still controls the military and, with it, the state.
“If the opposition — and Trump administration — are trying to find ways to peel away military support for Maduro, threatening its monopoly on food distribution is not likely to be helpful in that regard,” said Cynthia Arnson, the Latin America director at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
She added that by creating a political showdown over the humanitarian shipment, the White House only increased the prospects that Maduro would keep blocking the aid.