Bolton calls on Venezuelan military, central bank to join Guaido
Iran Press TV
Sun Feb 3, 2019 02:53PM
US National Security Adviser John Bolton has called on the Venezuelan military and central bank to line up behind Juan Guaido, the self-proclaimed president of the South American country who is challenging the legal government of President Nicolas Maduro.
Following the twitter diplomacy of his boss, President Donald Trump, Bolton wrote in multiple posts on Saturday that the troops and other government officials had better use Guaido's "amnesty" and join him camp.
"Another Venezuelan military officer recognizes the legitimate President of VZ. The US calls on all military members to follow General Yánez's lead, and to protect the peaceful protestors supporting democracy," Bolton wrote after Yanez, an air force general, defected from Maduro's side.
Guaido has been in talks with military officials in Venezuela to convince them to defect. He published an open letter this week, calling on the military to abandon Maduro and join him.
After months of clashes over economic and political issues, Venezuela further plunged into crisis last month when Guaido, who served as the president of the national assembly of Venezuela, declared himself "interim" president and urged Maduro to resign.
The Trump administration rushed to support the opposition leader and introduced sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry to give Guaido a boost.
American officials refused to rule out military action and insisted that Washington kept "all options" on the table, including military intervention in the Latin American country.
At one point, Bolton was photographed holding seemingly confidential notes that pointed to a possible deployment of 5,000 troops to Colombia.
South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said recently Trump had brought up the idea of military action in Venezuela in a conversation they had in January.
"Well, you need to go slow on that, that could be problematic," Graham recalled telling Trump who replied, "Well, I'm surprised! You want to invade everybody."
Bolton, however, played down speculations about possible US military plans in support of Guaido.
Reiterating that all options were on the table, he told reporters on Friday that an intervention was not imminent and Washington looked forward to a peaceful transition of power.
"The president said all options are on the table. But our objective is a peaceful transfer of power," Bolton said.
Last Tuesday, Venezuela's Supreme Court imposed a travel ban and freeze on Guaido's bank accounts despite Washington's warning of "serious consequences."
According to the Associated Press, Guaido had quietly traveled to Washington, Colombia and Brazil months ago to brief officials on his strategy of holding mass demonstrations in January, as Maduro prepared to officially begin his second six-year term in office.
In a separate interview on Friday, Bolton warned Maduro that he should choose between retirement or possible imprisonment in the US military's notorious detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
"I wish him [Maduro] a long, quiet retirement on a pretty beach far from Venezuela. And the sooner he takes advantage of that, the sooner he's likely to have a nice, quiet retirement on a pretty beach rather than being in some other beach area like Guantanamo," Bolton .told a radio interview on Friday.
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