The president of the United States, Donald Trump, said on Thursday that his government has not been “sufficiently tough” with Venezuela in its objective of deposing Nicolás Maduro as president.
“We have been very, very hard, some people will say that we have been too hard, I say we have not been tough enough,” Trump said in an interview with Telemundo.
The US president also defined as “a process” his February recognition to the opposition Juan Guaidó as president in charge of Venezuela.
In the interview, Trump also presumed to have been “hard” with Cuba: “I have been very, very hard with Cuba, nobody has been like me with Cuba, we are going to solve Cuba, not the way Obama did, It was a disaster, we’re going to take care of Cuba. “
We have been very, very hard. Some people will say that we have been too hard. I say we have not been tough enough
Trump was confident that his “hardness” with Cuba and Venezuela would allow him to win the sympathy of the voters in Florida – with a lot of immigration from these two countries – and win again this key state in the elections of 2020.
On Mexico, the president said that “this week” considers the neighboring country as a “friend” because it is doing “a great job” after the signing of the migration agreement.
“They have 6,000 people on their way to the border, troops, and they’re doing a great job, I mean, they’ve done a great job so far,” Trump said.
“They have complied,” he added, “with the agreement, if they were not doing so, they would impose tariffs.”
The president said he was willing to meet with his Mexican counterpart, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and also mentioned his “good relations” with the governments of Mauricio Macri in Argentina and Iván Duque in Colombia.
Trump also addressed in the interview his threat to deport “millions” of immigrants starting next week, and affirmed that Latino voters support that measure.
Latino voters “want me to do it … they do not want to lose their jobs, they want to keep their salaries, the increases, and they do not want crime.” When you have people entering (into the country), you have the (gang) MS-13 entering “
“If there is one (gang member) out of every 100 (immigrants), it’s too much,” he added.
Finally, asked about the 2020 elections and his possible Democratic rivals, Trump mentioned former vice president Joe Biden and leftist senator Bernie Sanders.
“Bernie looks like he did, Bernie looks crazy, but he always seemed that way, but now he seems like a weary madman,” Trump said.
On Biden, favorite according to the polls, Trump said “he is exhausted and he is not doing anything, he is not working”.
“If I have learned anything about this work, it is that in order to do it well, and I have been doing it well, you have to work hard,” he said.
With information from EFE.
