Bolton cancels South Korea trip 'to focus on events in Venezuela'
Source: CNN
By Betsy Klein, Allie Malloy, Ralph Ellis and Caitlin Hu, CNN
Updated 5:25 AM ET, Sat February 23, 2019
(CNN) - US national security adviser John Bolton has canceled his trip to South Korea next week, even as preparations ramp up for a second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
"Ambassador Bolton has canceled his travel to the Republic of Korea to focus on events in Venezuela," National Security Council spokesman Garrett Marquis said in a statement. Bolton is still planning to travel to Hanoi, Vietnam, with President Trump for the North Korea summit, which starts February 27, he said.
Bolton, who famously flashed reporters a yellow notepad with the scrawled words "5,000 troops to Colombia" during a briefing about Venezuela last month, won't be the only high-ranking US official focusing on the divided, oil-rich country.
Monday, US Vice President Mike Pence is expected to travel to Colombia in an effort to pressure embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down. He plans to meet with the Lima Group, a regional bloc of nations, and deliver remarks to address the "tragic humanitarian and security crises unfolding in Venezuela and ongoing US efforts to deliver aid to the country."
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/22/americas/bolton-cancels-south-korea-trip-intl/index.html
Firestorm49
(4,035 posts)snort
(2,334 posts)they can't throw me in jail, can they?
yaesu
(8,020 posts)He's probably sending in some private military contractors to help stir things up.
soryang
(3,299 posts)SWBTATTReg
(22,130 posts)at a time? You are just showing how incompetent you are for the job at hand. Resign if you can't handle more than 1 thing at a time. Scary and incompetent.
Power 2 the People
(2,437 posts)The US needs to let the Venezuelan people decide for themselves how they want to be governed. Haven't we done enough damage in the world in our thirst for cheap oil?
yonder
(9,666 posts)translation: "what's the easiest way to get our hands on that crude?"
GatoGordo
(2,412 posts)About $40-60 billion to get it up to where it was 20 years ago. So it doesn't look very cost effective from the Capitalist perspective. Far easier to get it from Guyana, who has shitloads of it. Untapped. Ready to exploit.
PdVSA was nationalized in the 1976. So Uncle Sam can't get his hands on anything.
mahina
(17,663 posts)Guessing they dont plan to take oil for the USA as much as work as mercenaries for the multinational oil companies.
I dont pretend to know anything about the situation there but unfortunately this looks awfully familiar.
I hope youre right.
EX500rider
(10,849 posts)MRubio
(285 posts)I counted at least 11 different countries producing oil in Iraq.
Scroll down to see what countries are producing Iraq's oil and what percentage each has of the fields that they're managing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_industry_in_Iraq
m-lekktor
(3,675 posts)The neolibs and neocons are counting on Trump and the gang to depose the "evil socialist dictator" who refuses to give us all that Venezuelan oil that is rightfully ours!
EX500rider
(10,849 posts)Devil Child
(2,728 posts)Maduro is now the suddenly the world's worst dictator who must go NOW. People continue to binge on this narrative without question.