Collected Department Releases: Interview With Trish Regan of Fox Business Network
Secretary of State
QUESTION: Did you have any idea this was coming? Because the expectation was that it was all going to start tomorrow, and instead, it started today.
SECRETARY POMPEO: So we’ve been at this quite a while, and we knew that there would come a day where there were important activities, and tomorrow there will be, we think, lots of folks in the street, and this will be a continued part of our effort to restore democracy inside of Venezuela.
QUESTION: Are you seeing the response you anticipated or had hoped for, Mr. Secretary?
SECRETARY POMPEO: So I think in large measure, we have seen that. We can see that Maduro is, so far, unable to show himself. We haven’t seen Maduro for an awfully long time today. He’s hiding somewhere. There were a handful of people that had made clear they were coming across to the side to leave Maduro. The Defense Minister Padrino; the head of the supreme court, Moreno; the head of the presidential guard, Hernandez Dala, they had all indicated that they were prepared to help the Venezuelan people get their democracy back. They have not made a move that’s as strong as we would hope, but we --
QUESTION: Were they all lying? I mean, is that the problem?
SECRETARY POMPEO: We continue --
QUESTION: Did they lie?
SECRETARY POMPEO: We continue – we continue to believe that they understand where the right side of history is, and we are very hopeful that in the coming hours or days, they’ll make that decision.
QUESTION: Okay. We indeed hope so, and how do you make sure that the change happens swiftly, quickly, now? Because the people need it, sir.
SECRETARY POMPEO: Well, at the end of the day, this change will be driven by the Venezuelan people. The work so far over the last three months-plus now where Juan Guaido announced that he would be the interim president, where the National Assembly supported that effort – all of these things have been driven by the Venezuelan people. I’m convinced that the tide of history is with them, that they’re going to demand that. We stand ready to help.
You’ve seen the work that we’ve done to put sanctions on that have literally crippled the leadership inside of Venezuela. They have made it so difficult for the Venezuelan regime to continue to pay their soldiers, pay their military. We’ve seen what Maduro has done, which has caused children not to be able to eat and sick kids not to be able to get medicine, in spite of the fact that the United States taxpayers delivered a couple hundred of metric tons of food and medicine to their very border. These are the kind of things that will drive the Venezuelan people to make the change that you’re speaking of, and I’m very hopeful that this will come in the – this will happen in the coming days.
QUESTION: What do we do about some of these outside players that are involved? I mean, you have the President very angry with Cuba right now, and I know we’ve put some sanctions into place with Cuba. I imagine there’s more we can do, but don’t forget, as you well know, sir, the Cubans are the ones that are effectively the lifeline for Nicolas Maduro and his socialist dictatorship. The Russians as well are in the background and even the Chinese?
SECRETARY POMPEO: That’s absolutely right on all three counts. It is the case that central to Maduro’s security has been the Cuban kleptocracy. They’ve cut a deal with the Venezuelans for tens of thousands of cheap barrels of oil every day. They provided security for Maduro. It’s – frankly, if you’re a Venezuelan military leader, it’s a bit embarrassing to have to hand over your senior leader to the Cubans and say, “You take care of him.”
What we’ve done is we’ve raised the cost for Cuba. We’ve – we began that several weeks back. We’ve put on increased pressure on Cuba; there’s more to follow. You’ve seen what the President has just communicated. We’re going to raise the cost. If Cuba wants to continue this malign activity and wants to continue the destruction of Venezuela, that’s going to come at an enormous cost to the Cuban leadership.
QUESTION: In terms of the costs to the U.S., what more can we do? Because there are some lawmakers now, including Senator Scott from Florida, who are saying we need to be prepared to take this all the way, and we need to stand with the people even if that means military involvement. Is it going to get to that?
SECRETARY POMPEO: I hope not, but the President has made clear we’re prepared to do that if that’s what ultimately is required. It’s our hope that the violence levels will remain low. We saw violence today; we regret that. We’re watching to see who chooses violence and who is choosing other means. We’ll hold those folks accountable when the time is right. But the President’s made very clear if the situation called for it, the military option remains on the table, and we’ve seen already military presence there, not only the Cubans that we’ve been speaking of, but the Russians have military on the ground there.
And so I hear people talk about they don’t want the Americans to intervene in Venezuela, when in fact, it’s the Russians who have intervened, and they’ve done so without the consent of the government. They came in with the former regime of Maduro’s – Nicolas Maduro, his permission, but without the president of the duly elected government led by – led today by the Interim President Juan Guaido. The United States stands ready to do the things it needs to do to work with our allies, now some 54 nations that have recognized this new leader, to ensure that the Venezuelan democracy that the people are demanding there is ultimately delivered.
QUESTION: Tell me some more about the Russians. What is their goal here? What are they doing right here in our Western Hemisphere – direct violation, by the way, if you would, of the Monroe Doctrine – is this payback for us being involved in NATO? I wonder what’s really going through their heads and what kind of role they have had in keeping Nicolas Maduro there given the sanctions and economic pain, sir, that we have put him through.
SECRETARY POMPEO: So I think at least one of their objectives is plain old greed. The crude oil there in Venezuela, there – Rosneft is there, there are Russian companies that get that crude oil. They’ve provided supplies, they’ve allowed some of that crude oil operation to continue there in Venezuela. So I think one of the elements is they’re owed money by Venezuela and they’d like that money paid back.
I think there’s a second purpose, which is they’ve had a long, deep relationship with Venezuela. These are non-democratic governments who often find themselves on the same side of issues and don’t like Western governments, don’t like democracies. And so the fact that the Venezuelan people are seeking democracy is antithetical to their understanding about how nations ought to work. So I think there’s multiple reasons the Russians are involved there.
QUESTION: Do you think that Maduro would have left had the Russians not intervened, sir?
SECRETARY POMPEO: Yes, I do think he would have. I think the support that has been provided by the Russians combined with the support that is being – continue to be provided by the Cubans has provided Maduro sufficient support that he likely would have had to left in the – had to have left had that not been the case.
QUESTION: So I just wonder what – how close he might have been. What are your intelligence people telling you on that?
SECRETARY POMPEO: So we talked to hundreds of people on the ground today and over the past several months. It’s very clear that Maduro had intended to leave, that he had his plane ready, and that the Russians made clear that he ought not depart at this time.
QUESTION: Wow. I mean, that’s significant, and it shows you what we’re actually, I suppose, dealing with there. And this is not just --
SECRETARY POMPEO: That’s right. Look, it’s part and parcel --
QUESTION: -- the Venezuelans.
SECRETARY POMPEO: That’s right. Look, it’s part and parcel of the deep desire to prevent the Venezuelan people from being successful and having a democracy and having their economy restored. We see it in the micro that I just described and we see it in bigger issues, economic issues, we see it in security issues – every element of power that’s being brought to bear to keep the Maduro regime in place there in Venezuela.
QUESTION: Can I ask you, how are you thinking about Juan Guaido right now, and even Leopoldo Lopez? Can we do anything to protect them? Because without them, Secretary Pompeo, I don’t know where this goes.
SECRETARY POMPEO: We’re doing everything we can to ensure that no harm comes to any of the leaders who choose the right course, that go in the right direction for democracy. Juan Guaido would certainly be at the center of that. He’s been very, very bold and very outspoken and very willing to take risks for himself. You saw today he was out and about. He was in the streets. We’ve all seen the pictures. Interestingly, we’ve not seen pictures of Nicolas Maduro. He’s been hiding out today. And so we’re doing all that we can to protect not only Juan Guaido, but all of those who have chosen the side of freedom and democracy, all of the --
QUESTION: I mean, is that Special Forces?
SECRETARY POMPEO: -- members of the National Assembly.
QUESTION: Forgive me for asking, but I’m just – do we have security teams there to help them and to surround them? Because they’re awfully exposed. I mean, Juan Guaido is very exposed and he’s going up and talking to all the people and greeting them, and if Nicolas Maduro wanted to be really aggressive – and he certainly has shown he can be with those colectivos – what do we do then?
SECRETARY POMPEO: Well, we’ve made clear our expectations that no harm or violence will come to Juan Guaido. I don’t want to talk about the details of the security situation on the ground. But not only has the United States made that clear; there have been more than 50 nations that made clear that imprisoning or harming Juan Guaido would be a significant step up in the threat that is posed, and I think that the world would respond strongly were the leaders there, were Maduro actually to take that course of action.