• Live
    • Audio Only
  • google plus
  • facebook
  • twitter
News > U.S.

Mike Pompeo Plans Anti-Venezuela Tour in Latin America

  • U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks to the media during the NATO Foreign Minister's Meeting at the State Department in Washington, U.S., April 4, 2019.

    U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks to the media during the NATO Foreign Minister's Meeting at the State Department in Washington, U.S., April 4, 2019. | Photo: Reuters

Published 9 April 2019
Opinion

U.S. Secretary Mike Pompeo will travel to four Latin American countries to get support to the U.S. agenda before the Lima Group meeting.

United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Colombia, from April 11 to 15, to promote President Donald Trump's interventionist agenda against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, the U.S. State Department announced Tuesday. 

RELATED:
Brazil and US Work to Destabilize Venezuela, Bolsonaro Says

Pompeo's new Latin American tour will take place just three days before the meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Lima Group, which will be held in Santiago de Chile on April 15 to address the Venezuelan crisis.

Pompeo will meet on April 12 with Chile's President Sebastian Piñera to highlight "Chile’s regional leadership, our strong economic ties, bilateral partnerships in science and technology, and security cooperation, including on cyber issues," as indicated by the Department of State (DOS) spokesman Morgan Ortagus.

A day later, the U.S. Secretary of State will meet with Paraguay's President Mario Abdo Benitez, as well as Foreign Minister Luis Castiglioni, to strengthen their alliance to "combat transnational crime and corruption, [and] strengthen economic ties." At this top level meeting, Pompeo will also deal with issues related to the U.S. strategy against the Bolivarian Revolution.

On that same day, Pompeo will also meet Peru's President Martin Vizcarra to discuss Peru's role in the Lima Group and other issues such as Venezuelan migration.

Finally, Pompeo will arrive in Cucuta, Colombia, on April 14 to "visit the entities that support the Venezuelan refugees and assess the challenges on the border," Ortagus said.

These top-level meetings are not new in the U.S. Secretary of State’s agenda. In December 2018, before the inauguration ceremony of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Mike Pompeo started a tour in Latin America aimed at strengthening ties with the U.S. allies. In practice, his visits were focused on getting support from the Latin American far-right politicians to undermine the Venezuelan legitimate government.

Meanwhile. Russia’s Lower House Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin recalled that President Trump’s administration has been sabotaging the Venezuelan economy.

“The U.S. has done everything to undermine the Venezuelan economy: US$30 billion have been stolen in the accounts ... indeed belonging to the people of that country; commercial sanctions have been introduced and cyber attacks against vital infrastructure,” Volodin said during the 140th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, which is held in Doha, as reported by FRN.

Comment
0
Comments
Post with no comments.