President Trump To Visit South Florida To Address Venezuelan Crisis
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – President Donald Trump will be in South Florida on Monday to address the ongoing crisis in Venezuela.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere confirmed to CBS News that Trump will be in Miami to show support for Venezuelan interim president Juan Gauidó.
The president will be making his remarks from Florida International University's main campus in Sweetwater.
Trump will also speak on the "dangers of socialism," according to the White House.
Guaidó has been in a power struggle with Nicolás Maduro, who is facing increasing pressure to give up power.
Maduro has maintained the support of the Venezuelan military, the main reason he has retained power in the financially struggling country.
Three weeks ago, Guaidó invoked articles 233 and 333 of the Venezuelan constitution to become interim president. Those articles stipulate that when there is no president, the president of the National Assembly assumes power.
Maduro's recent presidential reelection was deemed a sham by the country's National Assembly after opposition parties were not allowed to participate, leaving a void at the presidency.
The Trump administration, along with 50 other nations, have declared Guaidó, the president of the National Assembly, the rightful president of Venezuela.
Trump says he hasn't ruled out military intervention in the oil-rich nation and has declined to answer whether he was considering sending troops to the country.
He says he has "great respect" for Guaidó, calling him "the real president of Venezuela" and predicting the situation is "going to work out very well."
In a joint statement issued after meeting the President of Colombia Ivan Duque on Wednesday, he said the U.S. and Colombia" will work with the Guaidó government to restore freedom, democracy, and prosperity to Venezuela."
Meanwhile, in Caracas, Guaidó has called for a massive worldwide march for February 23 to let humanitarian aid into the country.
Venezuelans are angry because of lack of food, medicine, corruption, repression, the mass exodus of millions and what they call "the lack of a true democracy."
The United Nations says about 5 million Venezuelans have fled their country in recent years, many of them on foot.
Thousands of Venezuelans call South Florida home, especially the suburbs of Doral and Weston, according to the last census.
FIU is the largest university in South Florida, with over 50% of the school's approximately 66,000 students being of Hispanic origin.
Guaidó, who has been recognized as the legitimate president of Venezuela by most of the hemisphere and Europe, embodies the hopes of millions of Venezuelans who have seen their country become another Cuba during the last 20 years under Hugo Chávez and Nicolas Maduro.