Tag Archives: Venezuela

The Washington Post reports: President Trump is questioning his administration’s aggressive strategy in Venezuela following the failure of a U.S.-backed effort to oust President Nicolás Maduro, complaining he was misled about how easy it would be to replace the socialist strongman with a young opposition figure, according to administration officials and White House advisers. The president’s dissatisfaction has crystallized around …

Reuters reports: U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is set on Tuesday to offer new incentives to Venezuela’s military to turn against President Nicolas Maduro, responding to an attempted uprising that fizzled out last week, a senior administration official told Reuters. Maduro – who has said Guaido is a puppet of Washington – has sought to show that the military remains …

CNN reports: The Trump administration is looking for ways to financially bolster Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who has been recognized by the US as the country’s interim president, with an influx of cash, which could involve freeing up frozen assets or loans. The initiative is meant to help Guaido pay Venezuelan military and government workers, three US officials have …

CNN reports: CNN has been taken off the air in Venezuela by the government. DirecTV, Net Uno, Intercable, and Telefónica all received orders from Venezuela’s government regulator Conatel to block CNN. CNN en Español was blocked in Venezuela in 2017. CNN obtained a video that appears to show the exact moment it was taken off the air by the Venezuela …

Axios reports: Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó posted a video to Twitter on Tuesday calling for a military uprising while surrounded by soldiers and a detained activist, per the AP. Guaidó’s stance against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has so far been relatively peaceful, but Tuesday’s video marks a significant escalation in his strategy — which the Trump administration “fully supports,” …

The Associated Press reports: Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido [photo] has taken to the streets with detained activist Leopoldo Lopez and a small contingent of heavily armed soldiers in a military uprising. “This is the moment of all Venezuelans, those in uniform and those who aren’t,” said Lopez in his first public appearance since being detained in 2014 for leading …

“It’s time for action and the OAS, the Organization of American States, needs to come together. We have very effective drones. We have what they call Hellfire missiles that can be fired from drones and I believe its time to give Mr. Maduro a little taste of what he’s been doing to the opposition.” – Pat Robertson, openly calling for …

Reuters reports: U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday called on Russia to pull its troops from Venezuela and said that “all options” were open to make that happen. The arrival of two Russian air  force planes outside Caracas on Saturday believed to be carrying nearly 100 Russian special forces and cybersecurity personnel has escalated the political crisis in Venezuela. “Russia …

Bloomberg reports: A second blackout in less than a week occurred in Venezuela on Wednesday, leaving the vast majority of the country’s residents without internet connections or other electrical needs. A graph tracking disruptions to the country’s internet connectivity by NetBlocks.org showed about 91 percent of the country offline just before 6:00 a.m. EST on Wednesday, the worst outage the …

“Earlier this week John Bolton on this program said all options on the table when it comes to getting [Nicolás] Maduro out. Should we use the CIA? I realize I’m going back to the late 1950s or something. But I mean why not? Why not? The guy is a corrupt socialist dictator. He’s killing his own people in the street. …

ABC News reports: The U.S. is withdrawing its remaining diplomatic personnel from the embassy in Venezuela, citing the “deteriorating situation” given days of blackouts, increased water shortages, and the threat of further protests. The decision also comes amid growing concern that American diplomats could become a pawn in the battle with President Nicolas Maduro as the U.S. tries to push …

Reuters reports: Furious Venezuelans lined up to buy water and fuel on Sunday as the country endured a fourth day of a nationwide blackout that has left already-scarce food rotting in shops, homes suffering for lack of water and cell phones without reception. Authorities have managed to provide only patchy access to power since the outage began on Thursday in …

Reuters reports: Brazil’s vice president, retired general Hamilton Mourão, said on Monday that under no circumstances would his country allow the United States to intervene militarily in Venezuela from Brazilian territory. In an interview with Globo News cable channel, Mourão said Brazil will do all it can to avoid a conflict with neighboring Venezuela. He spoke from Bogotá, where he …

Agence France-Press reports: The Trump administration on Monday announced new sanctions on allies of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro and financial assistance to his opponent Juan Guaido as an effort to deliver humanitarian aid to the economically devastated nation faltered amid strong resistance from security forces who remain loyal to the socialist leader. Vice President Mike Pence arrived in the Colombian capital …

The Associated Press reports: Venezuela’s National Guard fired tear gas on residents clearing a barricaded border bridge to Colombia on Saturday, as the opposition began making good on its high-risk plan to deliver humanitarian aid to Venezuela despite objections from President Nicolas Maduro. By midday, opposition leader Juan Guaido pulled himself onto a semi-truck and shook hands with its driver …

The Associated Press reports: Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro is ordering the border with Brazil closed as opposition leaders plan to bring in foreign humanitarian aid from neighboring nations. Maduro said on state television Thursday he’s also considering a closure of Venezuela’s border with Colombia. Opposition leaders say they plan to mount caravans to bring aid into Venezuela from Colombia and …

Reuters reports: The United States is holding direct communications with members of Venezuela’s military urging them to abandon leader Nicolas Maduro and is also preparing new sanctions aimed at increasing pressure on him, a senior White House official said. The Trump administration expects further military defections from Maduro’s side, the official told Reuters in an interview, despite only a few …

Reuters reports: U.S. President Donald Trump said that sending the military to Venezuela was “an option” and that he had turned down President Nicolás Maduro’s request for a meeting. “Certainly it’s something that’s on the – it’s an option,” Trump said in an interview broadcast on Sunday on the CBS “Face the Nation” program. “Well he has requested a meeting …

The Wall Street Journal reports: The U.S. imposed sanctions against Venezuela’s state-oil giant Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. on Monday in an effort to cripple President Nicolás Maduro’s government and empower an opposition leader. President Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton said the actions will block $7 billion in assets and cost the country $11 billion in lost exports during the …

Axios reports: Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told me that as recently as a couple of weeks ago Trump mused to him about the possibility of using military force in Venezuela, where the U.S. government is currently pushing for regime change using diplomatic and economic pressures. Graham, recalling his conversation with Trump, said: “He [Trump] said, ‘What do you think about …