US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has arrived at the Venezuelan border to demand that Caracas fulfill Washington’s conditions. For some reason, the United States doesn't see that as interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states.
For details, please stay tuned.
Cúcuta is a Colombian city the nearest to the border. It's here that Mike Pompeo symbolically finished his three-day South American tour. At the meeting, the Secretary of State and the Colombian president discussed Venezuela mostly.
Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State: "The United States will continue to utilize every economic and political means at our disposal to help the Venezuelan people. Using sanctions, visa revocations, and other means, we pledge to hold the regime and those propping it up accountable for their corruption and their repression of democracy".
“Today I want to celebrate that once again we ratified the commitment between our countries with your presence here today to do all necessary efforts to re-establish democracy, freedom, and institutional order in Venezuela.”
Surprisingly, Mike Pompeo wasn't embarrassed to announce the interference in Venezuela's internal affairs and, by doing so, claims to be the Bolivarians' friend. The head of the US diplomacy is also eager to point out Venezuela's foes, which he did on the first day of his tour when visiting the capital of Chile.
Mike Pompeo: "I think there’s a lesson to be learned for all of us: China and others are being hypocritical calling for non-intervention in Venezuela’s affairs. Their own financial interventions have helped destroy that country. And speaking of hypocritical advocates for non-intervention in Latin America, you need to worry about the Russians, too. Venezuela, Latin Americans should be worried. Flying in troops and opening a training center in Venezuela are obvious provocations. We shouldn’t stand for Russia escalating an already very precarious situation in that country".
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov couldn't but react to such a statement.
Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister: "The US is bluntly interfering in the internal affairs of sovereign countries. Venezuela is on everyone’s lips. Their regime-changing blitz has failed. But the US doesn't refuse the idea of toppling the legitimate president, which was confirmed by Mike Pompeo’s interview yesterday where he made it clear that military intervention wasn't impossible. Americans have even dusted off the proverbial Monroe Doctrine, threatening that Cuba and Nicaragua are next, as if they didn't understand that thereby they are setting themselves against the entire Latin American, and not only Latin American, world. I think this behavior is just unacceptable.”
Pompeo's South American tour is a kind of attempt to restore the US lost influence in the region. Both in Chile on Friday and Paraguay and Colombia on Saturday the US Secretary of State spoke about a regime change in Venezuela, making the images of overseas foes. Is that what South Americans expect from their wealthy neighbors?
Viktor Heifets, St. Petersburg State University: "As for what Mr. Pompeo wants to sell I don't quite understand so far. Because a full-scale economic aid to the Latin American countries facing the crisis is not to be expected. The reason is simple — Donald Trump's administration cherishes isolationism. Thus, I don't quite understand what they intend to sell, besides the idea of fencing off the hemisphere, to, so to speak, "castrochavismo" values. They can reinvigorate Cold War rhetoric. And it's not the worst problem. But one of the US biggest problems in the Cold War was that it could rarely offer any economic cooperation besides fighting communism".
So, according to the United States, best selling in the region still are democracy, regime change, and images of foreign foes. How many more clients will be imposed such a "special offer"? What will be the price to pay?
Andrey Arkhipov, German Makienko for Vesti.
