Venezuela Slams Trump over Military Option: “Sovereignty is Not Discussed”

By Staff, Agencies

Firing back at US President Donald Trump’s remarks that a military invasion is “an option” in Venezuela, the country’s Vice President Delcy Rodrigues stressed that Venezuelans stay ready to repel a military assault whenever it comes.

Rodriguez said on Sunday that Venezuela considers Trump’s remark “unacceptable”. If an attack is mounted on the country’s sovereignty, its army and people are fully prepared to retaliate, she stressed, calling the matter of the nation’s independence non-negotiable.

“The sovereignty is not discussed, it is defended,” she further explained.

Rodriquez added that the people of Venezuela “will be on standby” to defend the country’s borders and won’t allow any foreign interference, “regardless of where it comes from.”

She, however, did not specify whether Caracas had taken any extra steps to prepare the country for a potential military attack, such as reinforcing the border, noting that all such questions should be addressed to Columbia, a US ally in the region, “which is doing that.”

Reports that Venezuela’s western neighbor may serve as a trampoline for the US troops if the “military option” is enacted have been fueled by a notepad flashed by US National Security Adviser John Bolton last week that read “5,000 troops to Colombia.”

However, Bogota has since denied it had any knowledge of the implied deployment and said that Washington had not asked its permission to send in its troops.