Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó made a largely successful visit to Miami over the weekend, highlighted by a large rally on Saturday at the Miami Airport Convention Center attended by thousands of people — including Venezuelan, Cuban, and Nicaraguan exiles.
“We have a strategy, and the support of the world,” Guaidó said at the rally, speaking in Spanish. “We’re not alone.”
Many of Guaidó’s supporters were hopeful that he might be able to meet with President Trump, who was staying at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, about 75 miles to the north. But Trump, whose attention was likely preoccupied with the impeachment hearings and preparations for his State of the Union address on February 4, did not meet with Guaidó.
However, Guaidó did meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Senators Marco Rubio (R) and Rick Scott (R), and Representatives Mario Díaz-Balart (R), Donna Shalala (D), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D).
Senator Rubio’s office released the follow statement:
Senator Rubio met with the Interim President Juan Guaidó in Miami to discuss the on-going efforts to restore democracy and the rule of law in Venezuela. As Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Rubio is committed to highlighting the Maduro regime’s egregious violations of human rights against its citizens and the importance of continued international support for the democratically elected National Assembly and Interim President Juan Guaidó.
President Trump issued a statement of support on January 23, 2019, stating that he was “officially recognizing the President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, as the Interim President of Venezuela.”
However, despite that support from abroad, he has been unable to translate that support into gains within Venezuela against Marxist dictator Nicolás Maduro, who remains in power largely owing to support from the nation’s military.
During the Miami rally, calls for intervención (intervention) by the United States arose from the crowd. Guaidó tried to calm the chants, but did not totally reject the idea.
“All options are on the table,” he told the crowd.
We reported a year ago that Guaidó did not rule out the possibility of authorizing U.S. intervention to help force Maduro from power, but told AFP that U.S. intervention is “a very controversial subject.”
Guaidó’s openness to U.S. intervention was publicly criticized by Representative Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who tweeted, “Mr. Guaido, you can proclaim yourself leader of Venezuela but you don’t get to authorize US military interventions. Only the US Congress can do that. We will not.”
Although Khanna is a liberal Democrat, her statement about only Congress being allowed to authorize U.S. military interventions is constitutionally correct. Former U.S. Representative Ron Paul (R-Texas) a constitutionalist and a steadfast non-interventionist, was quoted by RT about the same time as Khanna’s statement also questioning the possibility of U.S. involvement in removing Maduro from power.
“Where do we get the moral authority to be the decider?” Paul asked. “I think it’s rather ironic for our government to say they want to take care of Venezuela … by having a coup and threatening them with military violence because they’re not democratic enough!”
Photo: rubio.senate.gov
Warren Mass has served The New American since its launch in 1985 in several capacities, including marketing, editing, and writing. Since retiring from the staff several years ago, he has been a regular contributor to the magazine. Warren writes from Texas and can be reached at [email protected].
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