MIAMI: US Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday vowed the US would not allow “the collapse of Venezuela,” saying such an event would “endanger” countries in the wider region.
“The collapse of Venezuela will endanger all who call the Western Hemisphere home,” Pence said in remarks delivered before some 600 people at a Catholic church in Doral, the heart of Miami’s Venezuelan community.
“We cannot and will not let that happen,” he said, adding that “working with our allies in the Latin American region, the US will confront and overcome all who dare to threaten our wellbeing.”
He emphasized that Venezuela’s “collapse” would “drive more illegal drug trafficking with its murderous consequences” — a notion his boss President Donald Trump has also pushed.
The vice president gave his speech just back from his tour last week of Colombia, Argentina, Chile and Panama. Venezuela was among the key issues discussed.
The country has spiraled into political and economic chaos, threatening regional stability. Clashes between protesters and police this year have left 125 people dead, according to prosecutors.
In Miami Pence did not raise the specter of military action, which Trump has evoked.
Pence insisted that the US would not make decisions unilaterally: “America first does not mean America alone.”
US Senator Marco Rubio and Florida Governor Rick Scott also spoke, reiterating their pledge to ban companies in the southeastern state from doing business with Venezuelan firms.
According to 2015 census data, some 273,000 Venezuelans live in the United States — nearly half of them in Florida, and most in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
US vice president Pence vows America will not allow ‘collapse of Venezuela’
US vice president Pence vows America will not allow ‘collapse of Venezuela’
Minister walks out of film festival after accusations of German role in Gaza ‘genocide’
- Syrian-Palestinian director Abdallah Al-Khatib said the German government “are partners in the genocide in Gaza by Israel”
BERLIN: A German minister walked out of the awards ceremony of the Berlin Film Festival after a prize-winning director accused Germany of complicity in the “genocide” committed by Israel in Gaza.
Social Democratic Environment Minister Carsten Schneider left the ceremony on Saturday evening because of “unacceptable” remarks, his ministry said.
Syrian-Palestinian director Abdallah Al-Khatib, who picked up a prize for Best First Feature Award with his “Chronicles from the Siege,” said in his speech that the German government “are partners in the genocide in Gaza by Israel. I believe you are intelligent enough to recognize this truth.”
Schneider was the only member of the German government attending the ceremony though he was not representing it, his ministry told AFP.
The Ministry of Culture, contacted by AFP to find out the reason for the absence of its minister Wolfram Weimer, did not respond immediately.
A leading member of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative party, Alexander Hoffmann, denounced what he said were “repugnant scenes” of “antisemitic” during the ceremony.
“The accusations of genocide, the antisemitic outbursts, and the threats against Germany at the Berlinale are absolutely unacceptable,” Hoffmann, head of the Christian Social Union, the Bavarian party allied with Merz’s Christian Democratic Union, told the Bundestag.
The CDU mayor of Berlin Kai Wegner told newspaper Bild that “The open display of hatred toward Israel is in direct contradiction with what this festival represents.”
The backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East led to a tense 76th edition of the festival.
More than 80 film professionals criticized the Berlinale’s “silence” on the war in Gaza in an open letter, accusing the festival of censoring artists “who reject the genocide” they believe Israel has committed in Gaza.
Award-winning Indian writer Arundhati Roy withdrew from the festival after jury president Wim Wenders said cinema should “stay out of politics” when asked about Gaza.
