Brazilian ambassador Carlos Velho attended an April 10 high-profile meeting dubbed "Evaluation of the use of military force against Venezuela," convened in Washington D.C. by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a think tank financed by institutions such as the Bank of America, Chevron and Exxon Mobil, Brazilian media Brasil de Fato revealed Wednesday.
RELATED:
Trump's Neocon Administration Want War in Venezuela: Gabbard
On behalf of the United States, members of the Department of State (DOS), the National Intelligence Council, and the National Security Council attended. All of them were joined by the U.S. Navy Admiral Kurt Tidd, who served as head of the U.S. Southern Command, which is responsible for overseeing U.S. military policy related to 45 nations and territories of Central and South America and the Caribbean Sea.
Brasil de Fato cited information unveiled by The Grayzone's journalist Max Blumenthal who had access to the participants list and received confirmation of the meeting from a CSIS researcher.
"The attendees list not only confirms that the Trump administration and its external consultants are weighing options for a military attack on Venezuela, but it also describes the cast of people involved in developing a regime change operation in the country," commented the Brazilian media.
"What does a Brazilian diplomat do in a secret meeting where a war against Venezuela is planned," Samuel Moncada, Venezuela's UN ambassador, said, adding, "Bolsonaro violates his country's Constitution and history of peace by supporting a Trump's racist adventure."
For his part, Venezuela's Foreign Affairs minister Jorge Arreaza affirmed that the Bolivarian state will complain about this issue to competent political and judicial authorities.
In an interview with the Peruvian media El Comercio, the U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo acknowledged Monday that "Maduro's departure is taking a long time," which would explain Washington's interest in promoting high-level meetings to conspire against the Bolivarian revolution.
"The White House officials have actively worked in the quest for new tactics to destabilize President Nicolas Maduro administration," Brasil de Fato recalled and stressed that the U.S. geopolitical interests predominate "despite the fact that the Lima Group, which met on April 15, said that it rejects any military intervention in the Venezuelan territory."
The anti-President Maduro private meeting held in Washington was also attended by General Juan Pablo Amaya and Ambassador Francisco Santos from the Colombian embassy and Armando Armas from Juan Guaido’s National Assambly, as The Grayzone reported.