Bolton Dangles Military Threat Again:

Venezuelans Chant: ‘Yanks, Hands Off Our Oil’

Date: 01 February 2019 - 21:53

News ID: ۶۲۷۵۰

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Military intervention in Venezuela by the United States is not imminent, U.S. President Donald Trump’s national security adviser said on Friday, but reiterated that all options remain on the table.
Asked if U.S. military intervention was imminent — or by Brazil or Colombia or a combination of all three nations — Trump adviser John Bolton told the Hugh Hewitt radio show: "No.”
"The president said all options are on the table. But our objective is a peaceful transfer of power,” he said.
On Monday, Bolton was seen at a news briefing in Washington holding a notepad that displayed the words "5,000 troops to Colombia.”
The Lima Group — a 14-country bloc that includes Canada — expressed opposition to any military intervention in Venezuela, though it has already recognized the opposition leader as the president of Venezuela.
The Venezuelan army has remained loyal to the president amid the crisis. Last week, Maduro visited several military bases, where he lambasted the U.S. for openly leading a coup against his administration by recognizing Guaido as president.
The Trump administration is seeking to squeeze Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro out of power and had backed opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido amid global jockeying over power in Caracas.
U.S. officials have imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s state-run oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA), and Bolton has warned other countries not to deal with Maduro’s government regarding other Venezuelan assets such as gold.
Workers of the oil giant took to the streets on Thursday to support Maduro, calling on Washington to keep its "hands off” the oil industry.
Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, who delivered a speech to the crowd, said all masks have been removed from Trump.
Rodriguez said that Trump, his Vice-President Mike Pence and his national security adviser Bolton, "all without exception, have said they are coming for the oil of Venezuela and what is our response? Yankee hands, off our oil industry!”
In an address to the gathering, Oil Minister Manuel Quevedo said that Venezuelans "have to reject, unilaterally, arbitrary measures of theft of Citgo,” a company which operates three refineries in the U.S.
Maduro described the sanctions on PDVSA as "illegal, unilateral, immoral, (and) criminal,” saying Washington intended to steal the company from all Venezuelans.
The Venezuelan president has accused Washington of masterminding a coup against his government.
In a show of solidarity with Venezuelans, people in Catalonia gathered outside the European Union's headquarters in Barcelona on Thursday night to protest "against the coup and internal interference” in the oil-rich country.
It came after the European Parliament voted to recognize the self-proclaimed president as Venezuela’s legitimate leader and urged the European Union to follow suit.
Elsewhere in Europe, Greeks rallied to express their support for the elected government of Maduro and the Venezuelan people.
Demonstrators marched from central Athens to the parliament and the U.S. embassy, holding flags of Venezuela and chanting anti-EU and anti-U.S. slogans.
"What's going on at Venezuela since these last days is an ongoing coup d'etat which has been after a long plan performed by the USA government as well as the European Union, said former Greek alternate minister of finance Nadia Valavani.
Oil-rich Venezuela is mired in economic turmoil, with people grappling with hyperinflation, power cuts and shortages of basic items.
Caracas accuses the U.S. of being behind the crisis as part of a bid to topple Maduro’s government.