Trump Heads to Miami to Speak About Venezuelan Crisis

According to the Miami Herald, President Donald Trump is headed to Miami on President’s Day to speak about the ongoing turmoil in Venezuela — a move that many believe will embolden interim president Juan Guaidó and put further pressure on Nicolás Maduro to renounce his bid to maintain power and leave the embattled country

Trump is scheduled to speak at Florida International University, where he’ll reaffirm his support for Guaidó and, according to the Herald reporter David Smiley, hammer home his message that socialism is a scourge that has caused the economic collapse of the once prosperous nation.

The president will deliver his address at the university’s Modesto A. Maidique campus in Sweetwater, which is immediately south of Doral, home to the largest concentration of Venezuelans in the U.S.

Trump Ups the Pressure on Maduro

Trump, who is expected to travel to Mar-a-Lago ahead of the Holiday weekend, is looking to increase pressure on Maduro to leave Venezuela while extending an opportunity for military leaders to disobey the Venezuelan leader and allow aid into the country, the Herald report said. The timing is crucial as Trump and the administration seek to keep momentum building against Maduro.

“We have tremendous support all over South America, all over the world, really” [for our position on Venezuela], Trump said during a White House meeting with Colombian President Ivan Duque.

Trump and Duque are trying to figure out how to get tens of millions of dollars’ worth of aid from the United States into Venezuela that Guaidó promised would be delivered as of Feb. 23. The Maduro government has blocked a bridge connecting the once oil-rich nation to Colombia, and the humanitarian aid, requested by Guaidó, sits at the border.

Trump’s visit to Miami is a continuation of the aggressive stance his administration has taken towards Maduro, which began with a recent consultation with Miami congressional leaders. His appearance at FIU comes just two weeks after Vice President Mike Pence traveled to Doral to emphasize the Trump administration’s support for Venezuelans and Venezuelan exiles who’ve fled to the U.S.

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