The Foreign Minister of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, has dared the United States to send in the U.S. Marines to intervene in the country’s ongoing crises.
Rodriguez’s remarks came in response to the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, as he tried to garner support for a resolution that would send regional mediators to Venezuela during the recent three-day Organization of American States meeting (OAS). Sullivan stressed that the effort would help mediate between the government and the people for a better economic and political outcome.
“The ‘contact group’ you’re proposing is completely useless and unnecessary,” Rodriguez said. She went on to tell the press recently that the Marines were the only ones that could make a difference, although she dared them to try.
“I think the only way they [the U.S.] can impose their will is with their Marines, who would be met with a swift response in Venezuela, should they dare [to intervene],” Rodriguez said.
Since late March, thousands of Venezuelans have taken to the street to protest the country’s socialist regime led by current President Nicolas Maduro.
Rodriguez also lashed out at other countries that supported the U.S. proposal, calling Peru a “lapdog of imperialism” and Costa Rica’s foreign minister a “political illiterate who knows nothing about Venezuela.”
During the OAS meeting, however, the U.S.-backed proposal failed to overcome opposition from Venezuela’s regional allies and Caribbean countries that benefit from discounted Venezuelan oil.
The draft resolution that would have sent regional mediators to Venezuela fell three votes shy of the 23 that were needed to be adopted by the 34-nation bloc.
[revad2]
