Speaking at the United Nations Security Council, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and promised that the US would offer some badly needed humanitarian relief to the opposition and its leader Juan Guaido, in the amount of…$20 million.
The time for debate is over, Pompeo said, as he declared Maduro’s government illegitimate and “morally bankrupt” before calling on the Venezuelan military to side with the opposition. Under no circumstances should the military resort to acts of violence against Venezuelan civilians, he said.
MOMENTS AGO: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced U.S. is ready to provide $20M in humanitarian relief for Venezuela https://t.co/0zwLBLgZKM pic.twitter.com/HSu9VPZNja
— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 24, 2019
During his speech, Pompeo reiterated many of the same points from a letter published by the State Department last night where it refused to withdraw US diplomats from Venezuela on the belief that Maduro no longer has the moral authority to make such a call.
U.S. will conduct diplomatic relations with #Venezuela through the government of interim President Guaido. U.S. does not recognize the #Maduro regime. U.S. does not consider former president Maduro to have the legal authority to break diplomatic relations. https://t.co/DBS4GiGEWI pic.twitter.com/gQZJuS1xfn
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) January 24, 2019
After a little back-of-the-envelope math, one twitter user calculated that $20 million in aide comes out to roughly 62 cents per Venezuelan.
Wow. Pompeo is promising $20 million in humanitarian aid to Venezuela? That comes out to [maths furiously] 62¢ per person. Which, to be fair, is probably a month’s wages at this point but still. Why even say anything, Mike? It just makes us look cheap. So sloppy. https://t.co/1ULZFgMZhu
— Paige R. Penland (@paigerpenland) January 24, 2019
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maduro confirmed that they will continue to cooperate in “various spheres” while Russian Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov demanded that the US stop meddling in Venezuela’s affairs.
Of course, given the relatively paltry sum promised for humanitarian aid, we can’t help but share this scene from Austin Powers.
via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2WgeKgA Tyler Durden