On August 10 2017, at meeting in the Oval Office to discuss sanctions on Venezuela, Trump turned to his top aides and asked: Why can’t the U.S. just simply invade the country? The suggestion stunned those present at the meeting, including his then U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and also his then national security adviser H.R. McMaster.
McMaster and others took turns explaining to Trump how military action could backfire and risk losing hard-won support among Latin American governments to punish President Nicolas Maduro for taking Venezuela down the path of dictatorship.
Trump gave no indication he was about to order up military plans, and pointed to what he considered past cases of successful gunboat diplomacy in the region, according to the official, like the invasions of Panama and Grenada in the 1980s.
The very next day, Aug.11, 2017, Trump alarmed friends and foes alike with talk of a “military option” to remove Maduro from power. The public remarks were initially dismissed in U.S. policy circles as bellicose bluster but shortly afterward, he raised the issue with the then Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos.
Then in September, 2017, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Trump discussed it again, this time at greater length, in a private dinner with leaders from four Latin American allies that again included Santos. Trump was specifically briefed not to raise the issue yet chose to disregard the advice. “My staff told me not to say this.” Trump said then went around asking each leader if they were sure they didn’t want a military solution, whereupon each leader told Trump in clear terms they were sure. Once again, McMaster drew aside the president and explained the dangers of an invasion.
This is all reported by AP News Service who last July 2018 cited a National Security Council spokesman reiterating that the U.S. will consider all options at its disposal "to help restore Venezuela’s democracy and bring stability," an echo of today's White House spokes-persons.
Trump's administration and his advisers now include those known for their belligerence such as John Bolton. The threat of invasion is still ongoing and it is raising expectations among Venezuelans who are waiting for an external factor to save them and talk of invasion is designed to trigger many more street protests against Maduro to provide justification for intervention.
McMaster and others took turns explaining to Trump how military action could backfire and risk losing hard-won support among Latin American governments to punish President Nicolas Maduro for taking Venezuela down the path of dictatorship.
Trump gave no indication he was about to order up military plans, and pointed to what he considered past cases of successful gunboat diplomacy in the region, according to the official, like the invasions of Panama and Grenada in the 1980s.
The very next day, Aug.11, 2017, Trump alarmed friends and foes alike with talk of a “military option” to remove Maduro from power. The public remarks were initially dismissed in U.S. policy circles as bellicose bluster but shortly afterward, he raised the issue with the then Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos.
Then in September, 2017, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Trump discussed it again, this time at greater length, in a private dinner with leaders from four Latin American allies that again included Santos. Trump was specifically briefed not to raise the issue yet chose to disregard the advice. “My staff told me not to say this.” Trump said then went around asking each leader if they were sure they didn’t want a military solution, whereupon each leader told Trump in clear terms they were sure. Once again, McMaster drew aside the president and explained the dangers of an invasion.
In 2017, shortly after these exchanges, Harvard economics professor Ricardo Hausmann, a former Venezuelan planning minister, in an article with the title “D Day Venezuela,” called for a “coalition of the willing” made up of regional powers and the U.S. to step in and support militarily a government appointed by the opposition-led national assembly.
This is all reported by AP News Service who last July 2018 cited a National Security Council spokesman reiterating that the U.S. will consider all options at its disposal "to help restore Venezuela’s democracy and bring stability," an echo of today's White House spokes-persons.
Trump's administration and his advisers now include those known for their belligerence such as John Bolton. The threat of invasion is still ongoing and it is raising expectations among Venezuelans who are waiting for an external factor to save them and talk of invasion is designed to trigger many more street protests against Maduro to provide justification for intervention.
U.S. Major General Mark Stammer, the commander of U.S. Army South, was in Colombia on Wednesday, U.S. embassy officials said.
ReplyDeleteSources told Reuters private military contractors (mercenaries) were in Venezuela.
As are in place Pentagon readiness to strike Venezuela!s air defence and ground troop defences along with telecommunications networks phone tv radio.Then the supposed five thousand,who will be Whitehouse sponsored mercenaries make their move with the usurp!s,then when the real shit hits the fan how many 20 30 thousand american troops will move in to dictate Capitalist control.
ReplyDeleteNeo liberalist agenda to privatise as much of the commons in the Americas as possible has never waned since the end of ww2. so no surprise Cambridge Analytica type misinformation causes the working class to assume so called socialism is the cause of all its woes and not a combined effort on behalf of the IMF and regional corporate media.
ReplyDelete