Puerto Rico’s new Republican governor is drawing consideration to Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro’s army threats towards the U.S. island within the wake of President-elect Trump’s requires U.S. territorial enlargement.
In a letter to Trump dated Monday, Gov. Jenniffer González-Colón mentioned Maduro’s plea for Latin American troops to invade Puerto Rico “is an open risk to the US, our nationwide safety and stability within the area.”
González-Colón’s letter was in response to a Maduro speech on Sunday in Caracas, closing the “International Worldwide Antifascist Pageant.”
“As within the north they’ve an agenda of colonization, we now have an agenda of liberation, and that agenda was written for us by Simón Bolívar,” mentioned Maduro.
“The freedom of Puerto Rico is pending, and we’ll obtain it with Brazilian troops,” added the Venezuelan, who final Friday took his third oath of office regardless of widespread claims that he rigged the July presidential election outcomes.
Puerto Rican voters have overwhelmingly chosen to maintain their U.S. citizenship, granted in 1917 by an act of Congress, following the U.S. takeover of the island from Spain within the 1898 Spanish-American Struggle.
In a non-binding plebiscite in November, practically 70 % of taking part voters in Puerto Rico selected both statehood or free affiliation with the US as their most well-liked standing for the territory, each statuses which might preserve U.S. citizenship.
And although practically 31 % voted for full independence, an possibility to take care of the present standing with citizenship — a well-liked selection with supporters of one of many island’s conventional political events — was not included within the plebiscite.
Maduro’s threats, although unlikely to be adopted by army motion, come after Trump has made direct threats to economically or militarily coerce U.S. allies at hand over management of Greenland and the Panama Canal.
The incoming U.S. president’s discuss of territorial enlargement comes after years of elevated threats of Chinese language army motion in Taiwan and the South China Sea, and after three years of a Russian warfare of territorial enlargement in Ukraine.
Trump has additionally irked the US’ land neighbors, Canada and Mexico, seemingly jokingly referring to Canada because the 51st state and calling to rename the Gulf of Mexico because the Gulf of America.
However Maduro has up to now been the one world chief to spin the saber-rattling pattern into territorial threats towards the US.
Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart (R-Fla.) an in depth ally of González-Colón’s and a vocal opponent of authoritarian regimes in Latin America, blamed Maduro’s boldness on President Biden’s “weak coverage of appeasement” and issued a risk to Maduro.
“… in lower than every week, a brand new overseas coverage will start the place freedom and U.S. nationwide safety pursuits are paramount. Pals can be handled as mates, and adversaries as adversaries,” wrote Díaz-Balart on X.
“Maduro’s days are numbered. If the dictator in Venezuela doesn’t wish to find yourself like different dictators Mussolini and Gaddafi, he ought to depart Venezuela at once.”
