Trump threatens Cuba as US supports Venezuela uprising

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Trump threatens Cuba as US supports Venezuela uprising

By MATTHEW LEE and BEN FOX
May 1, 2019

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration quickly declared enthusiastic support Tuesday for the Venezuelan opposition effort to spark a military uprising against embattled President Nicolas Maduro, hoping for decisive action in the political crisis that has engulfed the South American nation.

Late in the day, President Donald Trump threatened a “full and complete embargo” and sanctions on Cuba if its troops do not cease operations in Venezuela. National security adviser John Bolton alleged earlier that Cuban troops were keeping Maduro in power in Caracas.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel rejected Trump’s threat with a tweet of his own. “We vigorously reject Trump’s threat of a complete and total blockade against Cuba. There are no Cuban military operations or troops in Venezuela ... Enough lies, already.”

Trump and senior foreign policy figures in his administration all weighed in during the day, casting the effort headed by opposition leaders Juan Guaido and Leopoldo Lopez as a move to restore democracy, not an attempted coup like the short-lived effort to oust then-President Hugo Chavez in 2002 that seemed to have U.S. support.

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/8a18145f858e41e88475360b9a7decee

[mr_lebowski]

1. Clearly desperate for a distraction from his hand-picked corrupt AG's LIES ... (nt)

[Ghost Dog]

2. Is it just a distraction, attempted narrative control, US-brainwashing, etc., though?

Or a real threat?

Even today's MI6-Guardian has to report (for once, worth reading between the lines of the whole article) in an article by Latin America correspondent, on the spot in Mexico City, Mr. Tom Phillips:

Maduro called Tuesday’s “coup-mongering adventure” part of a US-backed plot to destroy the Bolivarian revolution he inherited after Hugo Chávez’s death in 2013.

“I truly believe … that the United States of America has never had a government as deranged as this one,” he said, calling Guaidó and his team “useful idiots” of the empire.

He also scotched claims from the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, that he had been preparing to flee Venezuela for Cuba on Tuesday morning, until he was told to stay put by his Russian backers.

“Señor Pompeo, please,” Maduro said.

In a day when the struggle for power on the streets appeared to hang in the balance, Donald Trump made no mention of Russia when he tweeted on Tuesday evening, threatening Cuba.

“If Cuban Troops and Militia do not immediately CEASE military and other operations for the purpose of causing death and destruction to the Constitution of Venezuela, a full and complete embargo, together with highest-level sanctions, will be placed on the island of Cuba,” Trump said in a series of tweets. “Hopefully, all Cuban soldiers will promptly and peacefully return to their island!”...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/01/venezuela-crisis-maduro-claims-victory-over-deranged-us-backed-coup-attempt