Dr. Rebecca Bill Chavez, president and CEO of the Inter-American Dialogue, spoke with DW News Desk to discuss how the Naval buildup in the Caribbean puts the US and Venezuela on a collision course.
COMMENTS FROM CHAVEZ:
“What we see in Venezuela is a man-made disaster.”
“If that is the intent—that this is about regime change—it would be a grave mistake. Any sort of intervention in Venezuela to depose Maduro would not be a quick and easy activity. It would look more like a prolonged low-intensity conflict or even a war because of the nature of what’s going on in Venezuela. This is not a matter of going in and doing a surgical strike and then getting out quickly.”
“It’s really interesting, because on the one hand you see these Aegis destroyers heading south, while at the same time you see Chevron shipments coming up from Venezuela. So which is it? Are we escalating confrontation or exploring negotiation? It’s confusing, and it reflects the fact that views within the administration are not monolithic.”
“This is a regional issue. These transnational criminal organizations don’t respect boundaries. It’s actually kind of silly for any single country, no matter how powerful, to think they can address it on its own.”
“A durable solution is going to take the hemisphere coming together—greater intelligence sharing, cutting off financing, and strengthening the rule of law. The U.S. alone cannot do this.”
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LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE.
