Venezuela will defend itself from the “madness” of Donald J. Trump, its defense minister said, a day after the US president said he’s considering a military option in response to the escalating political and economic crisis in the oil-producing nation.
“It is an act of madness, it is a supreme act of extremism,” Vladimir Padrino said last Saturday in statements to Venezuela’s state broadcaster VTV.
Venezuela has been subject to increasing sanctions since President Nicolas Maduro convened a national assembly designed to rewrite the country’s Constitution and consolidate his power.
Trump’s statement last Friday suggested the US may get more deeply involved, raising the specter of US intervention in Latin America that could spread turmoil in the region.
The foreign ministry, in an e-mail, called Trump’s statements “warmongering” and said they represent a “direct threat to Venezuela’s peace, stability, independence, territorial unity, sovereignty and right to self-determination.”
The top US diplomat in Caracas, Chargé D’affaires Lee McClenny, was asked to come to the federal building known as the Yellow House last Saturday, The Associated Press reported. The US and Venezuela have not exchanged ambassadors since 2010.
Trump weighed in on Venezuela’s turmoil during a brief news conference last Friday at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
“Venezuela is not very far away, and the people are suffering, and they’re dying,” he said. “We have many options for Venezuela, including a possible military option, if necessary.”
The president declined to say whether the US would seek to overthrow Maduro. He gave no specifics on what the US would do militarily or whether it would act unilaterally.
Vice President Mike Pence flies to South America last Sunday, with stops planned in Colombia, Argentina and Chile over several days. On the eve of Pence’s arrival, the government of Colombia rejected Trump’s hint at intervention in a statement condemning “military measures and the use of force.”
Trump’s comment also triggered a negative response from a fellow Republican, Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, a member of the Armed Services Committee.
“No, Congress obviously isn’t authorizing war in Venezuela,” Sasse, a regular critic of the president, said in a statement. “Nicolas Maduro is a horrible human being, but Congress doesn’t vote to spill Nebraskans’ blood based on who the Executive lashes out at today.”
Ben Rhodes, former President Barack Obama’s deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, also weighed in. He said in a tweet that Trump’s comment may have the unintended effect of giving Maduro a rallying point for his supporters, even as he tries to suppress opposition to his policies.
“Hard to overstate how much this is a gift for Maduro who will play up threat from the US to seek support from VZ and rest of Latin America,” Rhodes tweeted.