Since 35-year-old Venezuelan National Assembly leader Juan Guaido declared himself under the constitution interim president Jan. 23, Venezuela’s socialist dictator President Nicloas Maduro has cracked down. With the population suffering with hyperinflation and widespread shortages of food and medicine, Maduro used the military block humanitarian relief from entering Venezuela. Opening fire killing at least two, perhaps more, protesters, Maduro sent a stern message to Guaido that he will stop any humanitarian relief sponsored by the United States and European Union. Stretching shipping containers across the Tienditas bridge to Columbia, Venezuela’s military served notice that Maduro’s government intends to block any U.S. or EU-backed aid. Some 50 nations in the EU and around the globe recognize Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president, urging Maduro to step down.
Guaido promised that he and thousands of pro-Democracy activists would march on the Columbia border tomorrow to open up a humanitarian aid corridor. Yesterday’s violence initiated by the Venezuelan military occurred in Kumarakapay in Southern Venezuela near the Brazilian border. Maduro’s military opened fire on unarmed civilians seeking to get humanitarian relief over the Brazilian border to needy citizens. Maduro declared, after the violence, Venezuela’s border with Brazil officially closed, essentially cutting the country off from the outside world. Maduro’s crackdown comes after President Donald Trump delivered a speech Feb. 18 at Florida International University in Miami telling a pro-Democracy crowd the U.S. will not abandon freedom fighters in Venezuela. Trump faces some tough choices but not until he return from his summit next week with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
Trump’s gearing up for his second summit with Kim to resolve more issues related to his June 12, 2018 summit in Singapore, Malaysia, where Kim committed to denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. While Kim has refrained from testing nukes or firing ballistic missiles in the last year, he hasn’t yet declared his nuclear arsenal or invited U.N. inspectors into North Korea. When Guaido goes with his band of pro-Democracy protesters to the Columbia border to get humanitarian aid flowing, the Venezuelan military could turn violent. Maduro thinks accepting U.S. aid invites a U.S. invasion, openly admitting that the Venezuelan economy has failed. Desperate to hold onto power, Maduro’s capable of anything, including inflicting mass casualties on protesters. If that happens tomorrow, it could throw Trump’s Feb. 27-28 summit with Kim in Hanoi into chaos.
Friday’s violence near the Brazilian border shows that Maduro has grown more desperate by the day. Harsh warnings from Moscow has put the U.S. military on high alert in the region. Trump won’t stand idly by while pro-Democracy protesters are mowed down in the streets. Trump told a crowd in Miami Feb. 18 that he wouldn’t abandon the Venezuelan people, warning Maduro to not crack down on Guaido or any pro-Democracy protesters. Russia’s presence in Venezuela, propping up the Maduro regime, runs counter to 70-years of U.S. foreign policy, keeping Russia out of the Western Hemisphere. “I stood up to them to back the humanitarian aid,” said community activist Richard Fernandez. “And they came charging at us. They shot innocent people who were in the their homes, working,” describing Friday’s attack that killed two people, injuring several others.
Guaido has promised to bring in the humanitarian aid currently sitting in Columbia, across a border bridge from Venezuela. “We stand with the victims’ families in demanding justice,” said a U.S. State Department official. Both Russia and China back Maduro’s socialist government, having spent billions on Venezuela’s oil infrastructure. Despite the suffering of the Venezuelan people, China doesn’t want humanitarian aid if it means possible violence. China’s Foreign Ministry should be telling Maduro to let the aid in to provide urgent food-and-medicine to Venezuela’s people. “You must decide which side you are on in this definitive hour,” said Guaido, asking the military to reconsider its loyalty to Maduro. “To all the military between today and tomorrow, you will define how you want to be remembered,” Guaido warned the Venezuelan military.
Heading to collision course on the Columbia border, Guaido hopes to open up the border bridge and bring needed food and medical supplies into Venezuela. Guaido hopes Trump meets his promise to protect Venezuelan rights from Maduro, whose socialist regime controls the military. “The truth is that not even 10 concerts will make damned Maduro leave office,” said Darwin Rendon, one of the 3.5 million refugees over the last three years. “This regime is difficult to remove,” whose family lives in Curacao. Removing the containers on the Tienditas Bridge is necessary for humanitarian relief to flow into Venezuela. Faced with a possibility of a massacre, Guaido intends to buck the Venezuelan military and clear all obstacles to let humanitarian relief flow into the country. Watching from Washington, Trump has only three days left before he flies to Hanoi to meet Kim.
