Trump VS Maduro

Analyzing Trump's longstanding public battle with Venezuela's President. Coups, Sanctions, Clandestine and Military Operations.

During a 2017 press conference, Trump says he will not rule out a military option with respect to Maduro and Venezuela. This was a similar strategy he employed with Kim Jong Un when he entered the White House. He claimed that much of the disasters that lay at his table were a direct result of the Obama administration and those before him.

"We have many options for Venezuela. And by the way, I'm not gonna rule out a military option. We have many options for Venezuela. This is our neighbor…This is you know we're all over the world, and we have troops all over the world in places that are very very far away..."

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-im-not-going-to-rule-out-a-military-option-for-venezuela-2017-8

May 2017: Maduro tells Donald Trump to get his "dirty hands out of here" after Trump imposed heavy financial sanctions against his government.

"In Venezuela, there is a dignified government and we are here on our feet. Get your hands out of here, Donald Trump, get your dirty hands out of here. Enough of your imperialist meddling.

I call on a national unity against Donald Trump's aggression, the threats of intervention, the rudeness of giving an opinion on our country when his country and his government is falling apart. Donald Trump, look in the mirror. Whoever meddles in Venezuela gets into trouble."

September 19th, 2017: Donald Trump addresses the United Nations and claims that a goal of his is to hold the Madura regime accountable and give their people freedom:

"The socialist dictatorship of Nicholas Maduro has inflicted terrible pain and suffering on the good people of that country. This corrupt regime destroyed a prosperous nation by imposing a failed ideology that has produced poverty and misery everywhere it has been. The Venezuelan people are starving, and their country is collapsing. Their democratic institutions are being destroyed. This situation is completely unacceptable, and we cannot stand by and watch. As a responsible neighbor and friend, we and all others have a goal. That goal is to help them regain their freedom, recover their country, and restore their democracy. I would like to thank the leaders in this room for condemning the regime and providing vital support to the Venezuelan people. The United States has taken important steps…to hold the regime accountable We are prepared to take further action if the government of Venezuela persists on its path to impose authoritarian rule on the Venezuelan people."

November 1st, 2018: Trump issues Executive Order 13850 blocking the property of additional persons contributing to the situation in Venezuela. Trump was financially putting the clamps on Maduro through multiple executive orders.

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2018-11-02/pdf/2018-24254.pdf

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2018-05-24/pdf/2018-11335.pdf

January 28, 2019: Trump issues executive order against Maduro again:

"I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, in order to take additional steps with respect to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13692 of March 8, 2015, and relied upon for additional steps taken in Executive Order 13808 of August 24, 2017, Executive Order 13827 of March 19, 2018, Executive Order 13835 of May 21, 2018, and Executive Order 13850 of November 1, 2018, particularly in light of actions by persons affiliated with the illegitimate Maduro regime, including human rights violations and abuses in response to anti-Maduro protests, arbitrary arrest and detention of anti Maduro protestors, curtailment of press freedom, harassment of political opponents, and continued attempts to undermine the Interim President of Venezuela and undermine the National Assembly, the only legitimate branch of government duly elected by the Venezuelan people, and to prevent the Interim President and the National Assembly from exercising legitimate authority in Venezuela, hereby order"

https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-taking-additional-steps-address-national-emergency-respect-venezuela/

February 13, 2019: Trump to the press while sitting with Colombian President Ivan Duque:

I always have plan B and C and D and E and F. A lot of things are happening in Venezuela that people don't know about.

"Well I have great respect for, the man that most people many people think is the real President of Venezuela he's very brave. I've seen what's happened in the streets and I've seen what's happened with execution so I really give him a lot of credit and I think it's gonna work out very well. Do you still consider any military solution? Well, I think there are a number of solutions a number of different options, and we look at all options. And are you thinking of sending troops to Columbia? I never talk about that. President Guaidó, who is the person about to leave the transition in Venezuela, has strong support. And we need to give it even stronger support I think what happened with the EU has been very important. President Trump if President Maduro stays in power do you have a plan B? I always have plan B and C and D and E and F. I have great flexibility. I probably have more flexibility than any man that's ever been in this office. So we'll see. But there are many plans and we'll see where we go. Right now we're in an incredible period. We'll see what happens. A lot of things are happening in Venezuela that people don't know about. And, there's a lot of support for what we're doing and for the people that we're talking to a lot of support tremendously."

February 18th, 2019: Trump addresses a crowd of supporters in Miami, Florida:

"Venezuela was the wealthiest nation by far in South America. But years of socialist rule have brought this once thriving nation to the break of ruin. That's where it is today. The tyrannical socialist government, nationalized private industries and took over private businesses. They engaged in massive wealth confiscation shut down free markets, suppressed free speech, and set up a relentless propaganda machine rigged elections, used the government to persecute political opponents, and destroyed the impartial rule of law. In other words, The socialists have done in Venezuela all of the same things that socialists, communists, and totalitarians have done everywhere that they've had a chance to rule. The results have been catastrophic. Almost ninety percent of Venezuela now live in poverty. In 2018, hyperinflation in Venezuela exceeded one million percent. Crippling shortages of food and medicine. Socialism so completely ravaged this great country that even the world's largest reserves of oil are no longer enough to keep the lights on. This will never happen to us."

https://usoas.usmission.gov/remarks-by-president-trump-to-the-venezuelan-american-community/

Trump's 2020 State of the Union address. He brings out Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guadio, calling him the true and legitimate President of Venezuela over Maduro.

"The United States is leading a fifty-nine nation diplomatic coalition against the socialist dictator of Venezuela, Nicholas Maduro…Maduro is an illegitimate ruler a tyrant who brutalizes his people, but Maduro's grip on tyranny will be smashed and broken. Here this evening…is a very brave man…who carries with him the hopes dreams and aspirations…of all Venezuelans. Joining us in the gallery is the true and legitimate president of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó. Mr President, please take this message back to you…Thank you Mr. President. Great honor Thank you very much…Please take this message back that all Americans are united with the Venezuelan people in their righteous struggle. For freedom Thank you very much Mr. President…Thank you very much…"

February 5th, 2020: Trump meets with Guaidó at the White House showing his support even further.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/05/politics/juan-guaido-white-house-donald-trump-venezuela/index.html

During the pandemic, Trump announced a peculiar decision. They launched a counter-narcotics operation where the US Navy deployed ships in Venezuela's direct vicinity after the Trump administration offered a 15 million dollar bounty for the arrest of Maduro:

"There's a growing threat that cartels criminals terrorists and other malign actors will try to exploit the situation for their own gain, and we must not let that happen. We will never let that happen. Today the United States is launching…enhanced counter-narcotics operations in the Western hemisphere. To protect the American people from the deadly scourge…of illegal narcotics…We must not let the drug cartels exploit the pandemic…to threaten American lives. We're deploying additional navy destroyers combat ships, aircraft and helicopters, Coast Guard cutters, and Air Force surveillance aircraft. Doubling our capabilities in the region. Very importantly our forces are fully equipped…with personnel, and protective equipment And we've taken additional safety measures to ensure our troops remain.”

https://apnews.com/article/d4c51884ba3ac6a4311b6f548434f958

In tandem with the counter narcotics operation in March 2020 the United States Department of Justice unsealed drug trafficking charges against President Maduro. Bill Barr explained to the media:

"The Department of Justice is announcing the unsealing of a superseding indictment filed in the Southern District of New York, against four defendants, including Nicholas Madero, as well as the current head of Venezuela's constituent assembly the former director of military intelligence, and a former high-ranking general for their involvement in narcoterrorism. The indictment of Nicholas Madero and his co-defendants alleges a conspiracy involving an extremely violent terrorist organization known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia, the FARC. And an effort to flood the United States with cocaine. In 2017 the Columbians entered into a peace agreement with FARC under which the overwhelming majority of FARC members laid down their arms and have been living within the political structure of Columbia. However, there is a dissident group of about twenty-five hundred FARC members. And they have taken up on the border between Venezuela and Columbia. These far dissidents continue to be involved in drug trafficking and armed insurgency. The FARC gets this cocaine over into Venezuela and then is given safe haven by the regime to fly this cocaine from an area called Zulia near Lake Maracaibo up into Central America. Since 2016 this air bridge has been established and has grown fivefold in just those four years. In addition, the regime is allowing these drug traffickers to, take drugs by a maritime route, into the Caribbean…We estimate that somewhere between two hundred and two hundred and fifty metric tons of cocaine are shipped out of Venezuela by these roots…"

https://www.westernjournal.com/us-makes-rare-move-filing-criminal-charges-world-leader-venezuela-pres-nicolas-maduro/

May 2020: "The Venezuelan government released photos and video footage showing a ragtag group of men who appear to have been captured by security forces in a village on the country's northern coast. According to President Nicolás Maduro, eight people were killed and dozens more were captured in what he said was an attempt to kidnap him and remove him from the country. Among the captured men were two American former Green Berets, who were reportedly hired to train men for the operation in Colombia."

What is interesting is that the men were carrying their IDs and passports with them, and were arrested in shorts and t-shirts during combat. Odd to say the least. Guaidó claimed that the Maduro administration infiltrated and financed the operation. Perhaps to give them a certain set of optics. This could be a fake op but it's hard to say.

In what the Venezuelan government called "confession videos" released by state-controlled media, the two Americans said that they were working on behalf of the U.S. government, specifically under the orders of President Donald Trump. However, President Trump, along with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, flatly denied any American involvement in the plot.

Fast forward: The 2024 Venezuelan election looks eerily similar to the 2020 election which Trump rigorously contested. Protests began to arise as the people suspected a rigged election.

Trump ally and king of social media, Elon Musk, claimed immediately that Maduro was a dictator who must abdicate his throne. Maduro responded by challenging him to a cage match.

2024: Former Trump-backed opposition leader Juan Guaidó says that the world needs to recognize Gonzalez as President-elect of Venezuela. He fled to the United States in 2023 after the Venezuelan government issued an arrest warrant for him. Much of the people suspect that Maduro hacked the election and rigged it for himself:

"We need actions," Guaidó said. "We need the world to recognize Edmundo Gonzalez as president-elect of Venezuela, to promote the transition, a peaceful and constitutional transition."

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-in-final-parting-shot-hits-venezuela-with-sanctions

It is clear that Trump and his allies have long sought to oust Maduro from his seat of power. Whether through sanctions, clandestine means, or even parking the Navy outside his country while putting out a 15 million dollar bounty: There is clearly tension and perhaps more to this situation than even meets the eye.

Will Maduro meet his demise soon? Time will tell.

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More thread and digs to come.

Shout out Nevs and Praying Medic for proofreading.