Dominican Republic denies that the Dominican uses its territory for an invasion of Venezuela
The Dominican Republic denied on Thursday accusations by the Cuban government that the United States was using an airport on that Caribbean island to organize a military intervention in Venezuela.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MIREX) denied the Cuban government’s complaint that US Air Force landings have been taking place from the San Isidro Air Base as part of a supposed war action against Venezuela,” the ministry said. a statement.
On Wednesday night, hours before the Global Conference on the Humanitarian Crisis in Venezuela in Washington, the Cuban government published a statement to denounce “the escalation of pressure and actions of the United States Government to prepare a military adventure in disguise of ‘humanitarian intervention’ “.
According to the statement, “between February 6 and 10, 2019, there have been flights of military transport aircraft to the Rafael Miranda Airport of Puerto Rico, the San Isidro Air Base, in the Dominican Republic and to other Caribbean islands. strategically located, probably without knowledge of the governments of those nations, which originated in US military installations from which units of Special Operations and Marine Corps operate, which are used for covert actions, even against leaders of other countries. ” .
Dominican Chancellor Miguel Vargas responded by rejecting that version, “completely removed from reality.”
“As we have said on other occasions, the solution must be through the holding of free elections, with the participation of all Venezuelan political actors and with the accompaniment of the international community,” he said.
The White House and the State Department did not immediately answer whether these supposed military flights denounced by Cuba are the ones that are transporting the humanitarian aid destined to the Venezuelans.
On Wednesday, presidential adviser John Bolton announced that Curacao, a Caribbean island that is part of the Netherlands, would become a center for the collection of humanitarian aid. Juan Guaidó, the interim president of Venezuela recognized by the US and most countries in Europe and Latin America, has also said that there are collection centers in Brazil and Colombia. Last week a plane with supplies for Venezuelans left from Puerto Rico.
On Thursday, Guaidó announced on Twitter the commitment to raise $ 100 million in humanitarian aid, which came from the participants of the conference held in Washington at the headquarters of the Organization of American States.
“We have warehouses full of basic food and medicines at the border crossing in Cúcuta, Colombia, and we are looking for ways to bring supplies to Venezuela so they can be distributed to people in need,” he said in a speech at the Elliot Abrams conference. Special State Department to deal with the crisis in Venezuela.
Echoing Nicolás Maduro and his allied forces, the Cuban government has redoubled the accusations against the United States and insisted on representing efforts to bring humanitarian aid as an excuse to launch an invasion.
“Let’s separate the reality of deception. The US is responsible for cruel measures to economically suffocate the Venezuelan people, at a cost of tens of billions of dollars, “Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez wrote on Twitter. “He has no credibility to impose ‘humanitarian aid’. It’s just a pretext for military aggression. “
Cubadebate, an official Cuban media, published an article on Wednesday with the headline “The US sends poisoned food to Venezuela as humanitarian aid.” On Thursday, the government organized a collection of signatures in work centers and schools to support the open letter sent by Maduro to the American people.
