Above Photo: From Telesurenglish.net
Note: A leaked tape of a conversation Mike Pompeo had with a group of donors where he said a great frustration of the Trump administration regarding Venezuela was that the opposition to Maduro was divided and that the Trump administration had a very hard time getting them to work together. Pompeo said presenting a united front against Maduro is only effective as a “public” facade in the past months. In reality the opposition is divided. He claimed there were more than 40 people who wanted to be president after Maduro. Of course, anyone who follows Venezuela knows that the opposition has always been divided and this is one of their many shortcomings. The divided opposition is one reason why they are unable to win elections. This division combined with advocacy of neoliberal policies and alliance with the United States ensure they are politically unpopular.
Pompeo also made the absurd claim that Maduro is surrounded only by Cubans and that he does not trust Venezuelans. This is fiction by Pompeo. I don’t know if he believes it or this is just rhetoric that is part of the anti-Cuba/anti-Venezuela narrative the Trump administration is creating. It is amazing how many people in the opposition to Maduro actually believe Cuba is running the country, or at least make that claim. It is utter nonsense that tiny Cuba would be dominating or running Venezuela.
All of this shows how out-of-touch the Trump administration is with reality in Venezuela. They underestimate the Venezuelan people, government, military, and Maduro. The people of Venezuela understand US imperialism because the country has lived with it for most of the last 100 years. The Trump administration does not realize the country wants to be independent of the US and are prepared to fight to protect their independence. They want peace but are ready for conflict to defend their sovereignty. The US would lose a war in Venezuela. Such a war would cost the US more than $1 trillion and be a quagmire that would be terrible for Venezuela and the region.
A war against Venezuela could become a global conflict because Russia and China aggressively support Venezuela. President Putin told the media at an economic forum in St Petersburg that Russia remained allied with Venezuela and opposed US intervention into Venezuela, especially military intervention. Further, there were Russian technical advisers in Venezuela believed to be working on a missile defense system. Putin said he understood that even US allies oppose a miltary attack on Venezuela.
Further, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Putin in Moscow for the second time in recent weeks. The two presidents said they would support stabilization in Venezuela and would work against US intervention in Venezuela. They are expected to sign newagreements and improve the strategic sartnership between the two countries. A military conflict with Venezuela would not only have regional impacts but potential global impacts.
The US would create destruction and chaos but would never succeed in taking over Venezuela.
The U.S. State Department declined to comment on the recording to the Washington Post.
The Venezuelan opposition is divided, a fact which has presented challenges to the U.S. government in their efforts to topple President Nicolas Maduro, admitted Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a secret recording leaked Wednesday by the Washington Post.
“Our conundrum, which is to keep the opposition united, has proven devilishly difficult,” Pompeo added during a closed-door meeting in New York last week.
“The moment Maduro leaves, everybody’s going to raise their hands and [say], ‘Take me, I’m the next president of Venezuela.’ It would be forty-plus people who believe they’re the rightful heir to Maduro.”
He confessed that U.S. efforts to present a united front against Maduro have only proven effective as a “public” facade in the past months.
“But since the day I became CIA director, this was something that was at the center of what President Trump was trying to do: we were trying to support various religious … institutions to get the opposition to come together,” he said.
Pompeo also commented on the selfish motivations behind Maduro’s political opponents in their fight for power.
“You should know, [Maduro] is mostly surrounded by Cubans. He doesn’t trust Venezuelans a lick. I don’t blame him. He shouldn’t. They were all plotting against him. Sadly, they were all plotting for themselves.”
Last month, the self-proclaimed president of Venezuela Juan Guaido failed to garner much support from the Armed Forces of the Bolivarian Republic, prompting him to call on the United States to intervene militarily on his behalf.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence also offered incentives to Venezuela’s military in an attempt to convince them to turn against the legitimate President Nicolas Maduro, but his efforts were in vain.