From US News & World Report
https://www.usnews.com/opinion/world...elas-elections
Apparently the US government is considering an oil embargo ahead of Venezuela's upcoming elections, drawing on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to make up any shortfalls in imports, on top of sanctions that were already imposed last summer. Venezuela's been in a sharp dive these last several years, and they're experiencing an extreme economic crisis since oil prices collapsed several years ago.
Marco Rubio sent out a tweet about a month ago in support of a coup by the Venezuelan military against the "Bolivarian" government.
https://www.usnews.com/opinion/world...elas-elections
Apparently the US government is considering an oil embargo ahead of Venezuela's upcoming elections, drawing on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to make up any shortfalls in imports, on top of sanctions that were already imposed last summer. Venezuela's been in a sharp dive these last several years, and they're experiencing an extreme economic crisis since oil prices collapsed several years ago.
Marco Rubio sent out a tweet about a month ago in support of a coup by the Venezuelan military against the "Bolivarian" government.
Behind the Scenes in Venezuela
The Trump administration is intensifying its regime change efforts to potentially include torpedoing Venezuela's presidential election.
In recent weeks, the Trump administration has stepped up its efforts at "regime change" in Venezuela. In the past, Trump himself has even mentioned military action as a possible option, but the most recent moves appear more likely to be implemented, and some are already operational.
According to a source with knowledge of the matter, the leading opposition contender for Venezuela's May presidential election, Henri Falcón, was told by U.S. officials that the Trump administration would consider financial sanctions against him if he entered the presidential race. (The U.S. State Department did not return requests for comment.) The U.S. has backed the main opposition coalition decision to boycott the election.
Falcón is a former governor and retired military officer. He is leading in the latest polls, and according to the most reliable opposition pollster, would defeat Maduro in the election by a margin of nearly 7 percentage points.
Why would the Trump administration want to prevent an opposition leader who could possibly win the presidency in Venezuela from running in this election? There is no way to know for sure, but high-level sources from inside the administration have stated that Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is determining U.S. policy toward Venezuela. Rubio is a hardliner who does not seem interested in an electoral or negotiated solution to Venezuela's political crisis. On Feb. 9, he appeared to support a military coup when he tweeted:
The Trump administration is intensifying its regime change efforts to potentially include torpedoing Venezuela's presidential election.
In recent weeks, the Trump administration has stepped up its efforts at "regime change" in Venezuela. In the past, Trump himself has even mentioned military action as a possible option, but the most recent moves appear more likely to be implemented, and some are already operational.
According to a source with knowledge of the matter, the leading opposition contender for Venezuela's May presidential election, Henri Falcón, was told by U.S. officials that the Trump administration would consider financial sanctions against him if he entered the presidential race. (The U.S. State Department did not return requests for comment.) The U.S. has backed the main opposition coalition decision to boycott the election.
Falcón is a former governor and retired military officer. He is leading in the latest polls, and according to the most reliable opposition pollster, would defeat Maduro in the election by a margin of nearly 7 percentage points.
Why would the Trump administration want to prevent an opposition leader who could possibly win the presidency in Venezuela from running in this election? There is no way to know for sure, but high-level sources from inside the administration have stated that Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is determining U.S. policy toward Venezuela. Rubio is a hardliner who does not seem interested in an electoral or negotiated solution to Venezuela's political crisis. On Feb. 9, he appeared to support a military coup when he tweeted:
@marcorubio
The world would support the Armed Forces in #Venezuela if they decide to protect the people & restore democracy by removing a dictator
8:26 AM - Feb 9, 2018
The world would support the Armed Forces in #Venezuela if they decide to protect the people & restore democracy by removing a dictator
8:26 AM - Feb 9, 2018
Now U.S. officials are talking about a more ferocious collective punishment: cutting off Venezuela's oil sales. This was not done previously because it would hurt U.S. oil refining interests that import Venezuelan oil. But the administration has floated the idea of tapping the U.S. strategic petroleum reserves to soften the blow. All this to overthrow a government that nobody can claim poses any threat to the United States.
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