US President Donald Trump jumped at half a world this Friday when he said he did not rule out a military option to solve the crisis in Venezuela.
"We have many options for Venezuela but incidentally (I tell you) we do not rule out a military option. People are suffering, they are dying and if necessary do not rule out the military option, "said the president after a meeting with his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and United Nations Ambassador Nicky Hailey.
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Trump went even further by suggesting that attacking Venezuela would not be complicated, as EE. UU. Has troops all over the world "in remote places but Venezuela is not far away.
This is the first time in recent history that a US official It even ventes that possibility. And now it draws much attention because only a few days ago a spokesman for the State Department had ruled that possibility.
His remarks, however, come at a difficult time as they coincide with Vice President Mike Pence's tour this week in Central and South America, where the president's threat will undoubtedly become a central issue. Tomorrow he arrives in Colombia.
Although most countries in the region reject the decisions taken by the government of President Nicolas Maduro, including the election of a Constituent Assembly to reform the Magna Carta, they will certainly take much distance from the military option that Trump ventilates so their mention It was only accidental.
Among other things, it stirs up the anti-imperialist sentiments of the past and the fear of US interventionism. UU.
It is enough to recall direct US military intervention in Grenada (1983) and Panama (1989), or its support for anti-insurgent groups in Central America in the 1980s to revive moments that were believed to have been overcome in the history of relations in the hemisphere and that country.
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The Colombian Foreign Ministry refrained from making any pronouncements on Trump's threat. It was learned that the chancellor, María Ángela Holguín, would speak with the president Juan Manuel Santos on the subject, to define some criterion on the particular.
According to Vivanco, Maduro, who is responsible for human rights violations, corruption, insecurity, lack of supply and the degradation of the democratic system, can now say that everything is "responsibility of the empire."
Trump's words, in addition, could temporarily halt the hardening of many countries in the region against Maduro's abuses.
A few days ago, a group of foreign ministers from the region, meeting in Lima, approved a strong statement in which they do not know the results of the election that gave life to the Constituent Assembly and say openly that a break in the country has occurred. Constitutional order
The administration Trump had already raised the tone against Venezuela by sanctioning with financial death almost 30 government officials and members of the assembly, including Maduro himself.
It speculated that Washington is preparing a round of tougher economic sanctions and that it would be trying to coordinate measures with other countries in the region, including Colombia.
But in those discussions, according to diplomatic sources at EL TIEMPO, the military option has never been on the table.