Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro’s top henchman, Diosdado Cabello, demanded an investigation on Wednesday into President Donald Trump’s alleged plans to invade Venezuela.
A report from the Associated Press on Wednesday alleged that Trump pressed his aides on whether to invade Venezuela to topple Maduro, with the aim of lessening the impact of the ongoing humanitarian crisis and promoting America’s national security given how the regime provides safe haven to multiple terrorist groups.
According to officials who spoke with the agency, Trump was dissuaded from the idea on advice from his former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and then-National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, who warned that it could undermine U.S. relations with regional governments.
In response, Cabello, who is the head of the regime’s fraudulent lawmaking body known as the “National Constituents Assembly” and a U.S.-sanctioned alleged drug trafficker, declared that he will launch a probe into those calling on the U.S. to open a humanitarian channel as equivalent to asking for a military invasion.
“This case I will take to the constituent national assembly to open an investigation,” said Cabello. “Anyone who is considered a traitor to the homeland in case of invasion will be treated as an enemy.”
“We are not going to be toppled. I ask for and am also announcing an immediate investigation. Those who are asking for a humanitarian channel are really asking for a military intervention,” he continued, adding that his lawmaking body would pass laws to punish all “traitors of the fatherland.”
Many prominent figures within the Venezuelan opposition, including Vente Venezuela leader María Corina Machado, former U.N. ambassador Diego Arria, and rightful mayor of Caracas Antonio Ledezma, have all pleaded with the Trump administration to open a “humanitarian corridor” into Venezuela as well as impose tougher sanctions against the Maduro regime.
Last year, Trump said publicly that he was open to a military option to the crisis, as millions of people now live in abject poverty and are unable to afford basic items such as food and medicine.
“Venezuela is a mess. It is a very dangerous mess, and a very sad situation,” he told reporters at the time. “We have many options for Venezuela. I’m not ruling out military options.”
Although Trump now appears to have backed off from the possibility of an invasion, his administration has imposed multiple economic sanctions on the Maduro regime and its vital oil industry, as well as personal sanctions against Maduro and other senior government officials.
Some countries fear that additional sanctions could cripple the country’s economy even further, with annual inflation rates currently around 25,000 percent.
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