2/18/2019

LATINOS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/VENEZUELA: “President Donald Trump on Monday [2-18-19] stopped just short of threatening military action in Venezuela when he urged the country’s military to remove its disputed president, Nicolas Maduro, and to allow humanitarian aid to come in…Trump’s speech had a triple purpose: It reinforced his administration’s support for the Venezuelan leader recognized by the United States, Juan Guaidó; it took aim at a longtime U.S. enemy, Cuba, which has supplied security personnel to Venezuela; and it doubled as campaign speech in the most important swing state in the nation, Florida, where Trump is counting on the outsize support of Venezuelan- and Cuban-Americans to help him win reelection next year. White House officials and outside allies acknowledged that Trump’s remarks were intentionally aimed at the gettable Republican voters in Florida’s Latino community, namely Cuban-Americans, Venezuelans and Nicaraguans, who are starting to flee the country under leftist President Daniel Ortega. Indeed, Trump made sure to name-check the cities in Miami-Dade County identified with each group: Doral for Venezuelans, Miami for Cubans and Sweetwater for Nicaraguans.”

Marc Caputo and Gabby Orr, “Trump: ‘All options are on the table’ for Venezuela,” Politico, February 18, 2019 8:32 pm