Posted on 01/23/2019 7:53:18 PM PST by Texas Fossil
Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro lacks “the legal authority” to expel American diplomats, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday.
“The United States does not recognize the Maduro regime as the government of Venezuela,” Pompeo warned in a statement. “Accordingly the United States does not consider former president Nicolas Maduro to have the legal authority to break diplomatic relations with the United States or to declare our diplomats persona non grata.”
Maduro ordered the departure of American officials earlier Wednesday after President Trump announced his support for a leading opposition figure who has claimed the constitutional authority to supplant the socialist strongman. Trump backed Maduro’s ouster by affirming that National Assembly President Juan Guaido stands as the interim president of the country, days after the lawmaker declared Maduro’s inauguration invalid and invoked a constitutional provision authorizing him to assume the presidency and oversee new elections.
“The United States maintains diplomatic relations with Venezuela and will conduct our relations with Venezuela through the government of interim President Guaido, who has invited our mission to remain in Venezuela,” Pompeo said.
Maduro pledged to remain in office and ordered the State Department team to leave within 72 hours.
“We do not want to return to the 20th century of gringo interventions and coups d’etats,” Maduro said after Trump’s announcement, according to the New York Times.
Pompeo warned “the Venezuelan military and security forces”...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
I understand your point and agree that security is so important. But for us to discuss it here divulges nothing that the bad guys don’t already know or suspect.
Besides, hold over Deep Staters and friends of people like John Brennan who remain in the CIA, DIA, State Dept. have probably already broadcast it to the bad guys.
I agree. But in this case the only American blood would be spent protecting our people in the US Embassy. We’re not going to attack the Presidential Palace.
I see no evidence that supports your claim. The most recent deployment that I have seen is from Sept. 27th, 2018, and the reporting date was 10/02/2018. Even that makes no mention of where it is going or if it is on a mission.
Not saying you are wrong, just that I see no evidence of it being reported, let alone it being reported all over the world. Perhaps you can provide that evidence.
Someone here said it was on Twitter. Regardless if it was broadcast far and wide or not, anyone with any sense would surmise that we had one of those ships in the area.
For us to discuss it here divulges nothing that the bad guys don’t already know or suspect.
Besides, hold over Deep Staters and friends of people like John Brennan who remain in the CIA, DIA, State Dept. have probably already broadcast it to the bad guys.
So, State gets to show whatever backbone they have.
Interesting.
No doubt, I wonder if Russia or China would really be any better......
Except for southern China, it would be colder.
Mike Pompeo for President, 2024! ....................... Damn right, its about time we got an Italian, its their turn. Oh wait, there is another one out there from NYC,a Liberal and he’ll probably have a Jewish running mate, it will be 2 fer for the Dems. If Pompeo can get an Asian or Hispanic to run with him, WOW!
is it within artillery range?
Well there isn’t much of the staff left. By 2010, with the exception of one military officer the entire defense attache detachment had been denied return flights or attrited without Chavez allowing a replacement or returning member from abroad. I hate to tell the SecState his business, but a host nation can kick everyone out if they break diplomatic relations with us. Signed Retired Foreign Service.
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Isn’t that kind of the point? Maduro isn’t president any more, Juan Guaidó is president, at least according the the U.S. and twelve latin american countries. If you’re not president then you can’t kick a diplomat out, and Guaidó hasn’t ordered U.S. diplomats out. Maduro can try to remove them, but he doesn’t have that right since he’s not part of the government so we have the right to protect our people from his thugs with force.
I agree, and doubt any American troops will be involved in operations there. I expect the dirty work to be done by the neighboring countries (especially Colombia) that are being de-stabilized by the starvation in Venezuela; at this point they could arm plenty of “refugees” and send them back in.
Maduro’s problem is that while he is a cause du jour for anti-Americans around the globe, he has little support in his own backyard.
What Mike Pompeo really said was. “no me jodas”
Most of the oil wealth is in Western Venezuela but has been siphoned to the capitol Caracas. If Venezuela goes into civil war, Western Venezuela would probably welcome intervention by Columbia.
I just posted these on another thread (about Venezuela interfering in other countries):
“Venezuelan Given 15 Months in Suitcase of Cash Scandal. They detailed an elaborate plot by Venezuelan and Argentine officials to cover up the origin and destination of a suitcase containing $800,000, which prosecutors said had been sent by Venezuela ’s state oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, to the campaign of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner two months before she was elected Argentina ’s president.”
and
“Laptop emails link Venezuela to Colombian guerrillas
President Hugo Chávez faces serious allegations over Venezuela’s links to Colombian guerrillas after an investigation into seized laptops. Interpol announced that a two-month forensic investigation of the laptops seized in a raid by Colombian security forces on a Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) camp in Ecuador concluded that they belonged to the Marxist group. Leaks from the trove of files and photographs have suggested high-ranking Venezuelan officials plotted to help the Marxist group obtain weapons and funding for its decades-long insurgency”
Venezuela is viewed as a danger to other countries in the region.
Madrid is nice if you have a few billion stolen from the people of Venezuela. He did.
I think the fight is over not what the host nation can do, but that we do not recognize the government of Venezuela to be Maduro’s—but rather Guaido’s. And not just us by, but most of the OAS.
So, we’re saying the government of Venezuela, led by Guaido, is NOT telling us to leave; just this Maduro guy, who has no authority over the nation of Venezuela.
We’ll see. Pretty bold move.
So you don’t really know. Okay.
You miss the point
Maduro is no longer the recognized government and therefore has no right or ability to declare an end to diplomatic relations.
Pompeo 2024
He better find a hole to hide in wherever he goes. Maybe Russia would protect him, but Maduro has many enemies.
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