In First Phone Call, Trump Congratulates Guaido on Becoming President of Venezuela
(ZH) — President Trump started a Tuesday morning twitter storm with a tweet warning that Maduro will be “willing to negotiate” after the US starves his teetering regime of badly needed funding via the sanctions that were levied earlier this week.
Maduro willing to negotiate with opposition in Venezuela following U.S. sanctions and the cutting off of oil revenues. Guaido is being targeted by Venezuelan Supreme Court. Massive protest expected today. Americans should not travel to Venezuela until further notice.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2019
But tweeting isn’t all the president did. According to Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, Trump spoke with Guaido for what appears to be the first time on Wednesday. A readout of the call revealed that Trump “congratulated” Guaido on his “historic assumption of the presidency of Venezuela,” and promised to keep in regular contact to “support Venezuela’s path back to stability.”
Here’s the @WhiteHouse readout via @PressSec. pic.twitter.com/jTCKmp7gzl
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) January 30, 2019
Roughly two dozen countries have recognized Guaido as the legitimate ruler of Venezuela, and a handful of European nations have demanded that Maduro either commit in the coming days to holding free elections or they too will officially recognize Guaido.
The conversation followed a crackdown by the country’s Supreme Court, which banned Guaido from leaving the country. Given Russia and China’s demands that the US refrain from interfering in Venezuela, President Xi and President Putin aren’t going to like this.
By Tyler Durden / Republished with permission / Zero Hedge / Report a typo
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