Vice President Mike Pence castigated freshman Congresswoman Ilhan Omar for blaming the American government for the violence in Venezuela.
‘As Venezuelans take to the streets to stand for their freedom against an oppressive dictator, Democrat Congresswoman @IlhanMN chooses socialism over freedom,’ Pence posted to Twitter Thursday. ‘The Trump Administration stands with the freedom-loving people of Venezuela.’
The Democratic representative from Minnesota told Amy Goodman of Democracy Now that the U.S. ‘bullying’ in Venezuela ‘helped lead the devastation’ in the South American nation.
Opposition leader Juan Guiado called for a military and civilian uprising against Nicolás Maduro’s socialist regime on Tuesday, and since then the two sides have engaged in violent clashes.
‘A lot of the policies that we have put in place has kind of helped lead the devastation in Venezuela, and we sort of set the stage for where we are arriving today,’ Omar told Goodman, a liberal broadcaster. ‘This particular bullying and the use of sanctions to eventually intervene and make regime change, really does not help the people of countries like Venezuela, and it certainly is not in the interest of the United States.’
Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar said the U.S. used ‘bullying’ tactics that ‘helped lead to the devastation inVenezuela’ as the country experiences its third day of violent clashes
Vice President Mike Pence attached the freshman representative for choosing ‘socialism over freedom’
The progressive congresswoman made her comments after the country broke out into violence after opposition leader Juan Guiado called for a military uprising against socialist President Nicolas Maduro
Democracy Now is as far-left as radio goes in the U.S., so Omar was speaking to a friendly broadcaster and audience.
Although she most likely wasn’t trying to suggest the U.S. caused the larger problem in Venezuela, she feels American government helped exacerbate the issues and make it harder for those trying to help the opposition efforts.
The clashes in Venezuela have quickly turned into a proxy fight with the Russians backing Venezuela and the U.S. backing Guido’s Operation Liberty.
‘To @jguaido, the National Assembly and all the freedom-loving people of Venezuela who are taking to the streets today in #operacionlibertad—Estamos con ustedes! We are with you!’ Pence tweeted on Tuesday, following Guiado’s announcement of the ‘final stage’ of Operation Liberty. ‘America will stand with you until freedom & democracy are restored. Vayan con dios! #FreeVenezuela’
Trump also threatened to issue ‘highest-level sanctions’ on Cuba if they did not pull troops from Venezuela, which Cuban government has pushed back on, claiming they are not supporting Maduro’s militant efforts.
Pence, President Donald Trump and other top U.S. officials expressed their support for Guaido’s Operation Liberty, and said America fully supported the fight for Democracy and the ousting of Maduro from power
Guiado released a video on Tuesday that called for military and civilians to join in the ‘final phase’ of Operation Liberty to overthrow the socialist Maduro regime in Venezuela
The fight between Guaido and Maduro remained largely non-violent until Tuesday, where now people are being gunned-down in the streets and are launching tear gas at each other
‘If Cuban Troops and Militia do not immediately CEASE military and other operations for the purpose of causing death and destruction to the Constitution of Venezuela, a full and complete embargo, together with highest-level sanctions, will be placed on the island of Cuba,’ Trump tweeted Tuesday. ‘Hopefully, all Cuban soldiers will promptly and peacefully return to their island!’
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez called U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton a ‘pathological liar’ last week for claiming that some 20,000 Cubans in Venezuela are providing security support for Maduro.
He said the thousands of Cubans currently in Venezuela are mostly medical workers.
‘That State Department memorandum says Cuban special forces were deployed to the border between Colombia and Venezuela to engage in provocative military exercises. That’s a lie. I invite them to provide evidence,’ Rodriguez said at a news conference April 25.
Republican Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart told Fox News Tuesday night that Russia was using the conflict to station themselves closer to the U.S.
‘Imagine if this regime that now is receiving a lot of international pressure survives, is it or is it not potentially a green light, an open door for the Russians and for the Chinese and for others to increase their activity against our national security interest right here in our hemisphere,’ Diaz-Balart told Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
Some said the congressman was suggesting that Russia had installed nuclear missiles in Venezuela.
Guaido called on Venezuelans to push President Maduro out of power in Venezuela, once and for all, in an uprising against his government rival.
He said in the three-minute video taken at La Carlota airbase in the capital city of Caracas that ‘the moment is now,’ and urged protesters and members of the military to join the ‘final phase of Operation Liberty.’