US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo affirmed today that “military action” is “possible” if it is “required” to favor a political transition in Venezuela, a day after the uprising led by opposition leader Juan Guaidó.
“Military action is possible, if that is what is required, that will be what the US will do,” Pompeo said in an interview this morning on Fox.
Pompeo stressed, however, that the objective is for there to be a transition of “peaceful” power in Venezuela.
The United States on Tuesday pressed the Venezuelan military and key Chavez figures to support the uprising led by Guaidó, blaming Russia and Cuba for several hours after the uprising, President Nicolás Maduro remained in power.
Guaidó announced early on Tuesday that “the military family” had decided to join his movement to oust Maduro from power.
The self-proclaimed interim president of Venezuela appeared next to the leader of his party, Leopoldo López, who mocked the prison that he kept in his home to join the demonstrations, in which at least one person was killed and 77 wounded, including eight members of the Security forces.
At the end of the day, the military uprising did not seem to have materialized in Venezuela, something that Pompeo attributed yesterday to the influence of Russia.
Maduro “had a plane on the runway, he was ready to leave this morning, as we understand, but the Russians indicated that he should stay,” Pompeo told CNN, adding that the Venezuelan president “was on his way to Havana “
The White House also blamed Cuba, which it accuses of having some 25,000 infiltrators in the Venezuelan security and intelligence forces, apparently having thwarted the uprising of Guaidó, and threatened new sanctions against Havana.
For his part, Maduro denied that he intended to leave Venezuela and stressed the “total loyalty” of the Armed Forces.
At the same time, he accused the US and Colombia today of supporting the uprising, and the US president, Donald Trump, not to let “one day” go by without “getting involved” with Venezuela.
“I think, I really say (…), that in the United States of America there had not been a government as crazy as this,” he added in reference to the Trump Administration.
Venezuela is experiencing a worsening of political tension since last January, when Maduro swore a new term of six years that is not recognized by the opposition and part of the international community, and Guaidó proclaimed himself head of an interim government that has the support of more than 50 countries (EFEUSA) .-
