U.S. President Donald Trump has issued a stern warning to members of Venezuela’s military who continue to help President Nicolas Maduro to stay in power.

Trump said they are risking their future and their lives, urging them to allow humanitarian aid into the country.

Speaking to a cheering crowd mostly of Venezuelan and Cuban immigrants, Trump held out an offer to members of Venezuela’s military and its leadership “to help forge a safe and prosperous future for all of the people of Venezuela” but warned that those who continue to support Maduro will be given no quarter.

“If you choose this path, you will find no safe harbor, no easy exit and no way out,” Trump said. “You will lose everything.”

President Trump said he wants a peaceful transition of power in Venezuela but that all options remain open.</s>MIAMI (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday warned members of Venezuela’s military who remain loyal to socialist President Nicolas Maduro that they are risking their future and their lives and urged them to allow humanitarian aid into the country.

Speaking to a cheering crowd mostly of Venezuelan and Cuban immigrants in Miami, Trump said if the Venezuelan military continues supporting Maduro, “you will find no safe harbor, no easy exit and no way out. You’ll lose everything.”

Maduro retaliated late on Monday that Trump’s speech was “nazi-style” and said he acted as if he were the owner of Venezuela and its citizens his slaves.

Trump offered strong backing for Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, whom the United States, many of Venezuela’s neighbors and most Western countries have recognized as interim president of Venezuela.

But Maduro, who won a second term last year in an election that critics denounced as a sham, retains the backing of Russia and China and control of Venezuelan state institutions, including the security services.

Trump cautioned Venezuelan armed forces not to harm Guaido or other opposition politicians, urged them to accept the National Assembly leader’s offer of amnesty and demanded that they allow in food, medicine and other supplies.

Guaido, who invoked constitutional provisions to declare himself the country’s leader last month, has said that aid will enter Venezuela from neighboring countries by land and sea on Saturday.

The United States has sent tons of aid that is being stockpiled on Colombia’s border with Venezuela, but Maduro has refused to let it in.

Maduro calls the aid a U.S.-orchestrated show and denies any crisis despite many Venezuelans’ scant access to food and medicine.

U.S. President Donald Trump pauses speaks about the crisis in Venezuela during a visit to Florida International University in Miami, Florida, U.S., February 18, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

“We will not make of the honorable Venezuela a Venezuela of beggars,” he said in televised comments on Monday. “We will not accept it.”

Maduro said Venezuela already received “humanitarian assistance” on a daily basis. Russia, for example, was sending 300 tonnes of aid to the country by plane on Wednesday, he said, albeit clarifying this was not a donation but supplies for which Venezuela had paid.

BROAD ATTACK ON SOCIALISM

“We seek a peaceful transition of power but all options are open,” Trump said. It was a further hint of Trump’s repeated insistence that military options remain on the table, though most Latin America experts believe such action is unlikely.The United States has had direct communications with members of Venezuela’s military urging them to abandon Maduro, a senior White House official told Reuters this month, and Trump’s aides have openly predicted more defections.

But so far, few military officers have turned against Maduro.

A source in Washington close to the opposition expressed doubts whether the Trump administration has done sufficient groundwork to spur a wider mutiny in the ranks, where many officers are suspected of benefiting from corruption and drug trafficking.

Guaido, in a videotaped message to the crowd at Florida International University, called it a “decisive moment” to exert pressure on Maduro from inside and outside the country.

Trump also used his speech to rail against socialism as a “dying” ideology in the Western Hemisphere and to brand Maduro a “puppet” of communist-ruled Cuba.

While the Republican president did not directly equate socialism with the Democratic party, as he appeared to do in his State of the Union speech this month, he alluded to his earlier criticism of domestic policies proposed by some liberal Democrats.

FILE PHOTO: Soldiers with their faces painted march during a military parade to celebrate the 205th anniversary of Venezuela's independence in Caracas, Venezuela July 5, 2016. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso/File Photo

“America will never be a socialist country,” he said.

Trump wants to boost support among Florida’s Hispanic voters as he looks ahead to his re-election campaign in 2020, when Florida is again expected to be an important swing state.</s>MIAMI — President Donald Trump on Monday pleaded with Venezuela’s military to support opposition leader Juan Guaido and issued a dire warning if they continue to stand with President Nicolas Maduro’s government.

“You will find no safe harbor, no easy exit and no way out. You will lose everything,” Trump said in a speech at Florida International University in Miami before large American and Venezuelan flags.

Trump added: “We seek a peaceful transition of power, but all options are open.”

The Venezuelan military could play a decisive role in the stalemate but has largely remained loyal to Maduro.

In remarks broadcast on state television, Maduro accused the U.S. president of speaking in an “almost Nazi style” and lashed out at Trump for thinking he can deliver orders to Venezuela’s military.

“Who is the commander of the armed forces, Donald Trump from Miami?” Maduro said. “They think they’re the owners of the country.”

Trump said “a new day is coming in Latin America,” as he sought to rally support among the largest Venezuelan community in the U.S. for Guaido. The U.S. recognizes him as the country’s rightful president and condemns Maduro’s government and its socialist policies.

As the monthslong political crisis stretched on, the military has blocked the U.S. from moving tons of humanitarian aid airlifted in recent days to the Colombian border with Venezuela. The aid shipments have been meant in part to dramatize the hyperinflation and shortages of food and medicine that are gripping Venezuela. Trump said of Maduro, “He would rather see his people starve than give them aid.”

Critics say Maduro’s re-election last year was fraudulent, making his second term illegal.

Venezuela’s power struggle is headed to a potentially violent showdown Saturday, when Guaido will try to run caravans of U.S. humanitarian aid across the Venezuelan border from Colombia. Maduro denies a humanitarian crisis exists, blaming the Trump administration for mounting a coup against him.

More than 2 million Venezuelans have fled the country in the last two years, most flooding across the border into Colombia, Brazil and Peru. Those left behind struggle to afford scarce supplies of food and medicine as inflation soars.

Maduro maintains support from Russia, China and Turkey, while Guaido has won recognition from dozens of world leaders in Latin America and Europe, who are demanding that Maduro holds new elections or steps down.

So far, Maduro isn’t budging. In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Maduro said Venezuela is ready to make an economic rebound once Trump removes his “infected hand” from the country that sits atop the world’s largest petroleum reserves.

Trump urged the Venezuelan military to accept Guaido’s offer of amnesty and refrain from violence against those opposing Maduro’s government. And he praised the Venezuelan opposition, saying of the people of Venezuela, “They are turning the page on dictatorship and there will be no going back.”

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said earlier Monday that the U.S. “knows where military officials and their families have money hidden throughout the world.”

South Florida is home to more than 100,000 Venezuelans and Venezuelan-Americans, the largest concentration in the country. Speaking in the presidential battleground state, Trump also sought to draw a contrast with the policies of progressive Democrats, which he brands as “socialist,” as he gears up for re-election.

Trump said that “socialism has so completely ravaged” Venezuela “that even the world’s largest reserves of oil are not enough to keep the lights on.” He added: “This will never happen to us.”

“Socialism promises prosperity, but it delivers poverty,” he said.

Trump was introduced by first lady Melania Trump and joined by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, who have all been outspoken in their criticism of Maduro’s government. Trump also spoke of the socialist governments in Cuba and Nicaragua, which have large expatriate communities in the Miami area.

“Socialism is dying and liberty, prosperity and democracy are being reborn” throughout the hemisphere, Trump said, expressing hope that soon, “This will become the first free hemisphere in all of human history.”

In Cuba, the foreign minister, Bruno Rodriguez, tweeted that he considered “offensive” Trump’s speech and that it “confirms the threat of military aggression against Venezuela.” He added, “Humanitarian aid is a pretext for a war.”

Shortly after Trump ended his speech, he tweeted, “I ask every member of the Maduro regime: End this nightmare of poverty, hunger and death. LET YOUR PEOPLE GO. Set your country free! Now is the time for all Venezuelan Patriots to act together, as one united people. Nothing could be better for the future of Venezuela!”

Guaido addressed the crowd in a pre-recorded video released by the White House and thanked Trump and the state of Florida for their support.

“Now there is a debate between the democracy and dictatorship — one between life and death,” Guaido said in Spanish. “Today this fight is existential.”

Trump said the U.S. is “profoundly grateful” to dissidents and exiles who have protested and raised alarms about the actions of the Maduro government. But his administration has also come under criticism for not doing enough to grant asylum to those fleeing the country.

“President Trump is two-faced on the Venezuela issue,” said Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Terrie Rizzo. “He talks about fighting the Maduro regime, but his administration keeps deporting and detaining Venezuelans fleeing repression from the Maduro regime.”

Trump had been spending the holiday weekend at his private club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Associated Press writer Scott Smith in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.</s>Miami, Feb 18 (EFE).- The commanders of Venezuela’s armed forces must renounce their allegiance to leftist President Nicolas Maduro and rally behind self-proclaimed interim head of state Juan Guaido, US President Donald Trump said here Monday.



“The eyes of the entire world are upon you, today, every day, and every day in the future,” Trump said in a speech at Florida International University in Miami.



“You cannot hide from the choice that now confronts you. You can choose to accept President Guaido’s generous offer of amnesty, to live your life in peace with your families and your countrymen,” Trump said in front of an audience including many Venezuelan expats.



Senior officers who decline to throw their support to Guaido stand to “lose everything,” the US president said, before again suggesting the possibility of American military intervention in the oil-rich South American nation.



“They are risking their future, they are risking their lives and Venezuela’s future for a man controlled by the Cuban military and protected by a private army of Cuban soldiers,” Trump said. “Maduro is not a Venezuelan patriot, he is a Cuban puppet. That’s what it is.”



Trump offered no evidence to substantiate that characterization, nor any explanation of why Venezuela – which is far wealthier than Cuba and has roughly four times the island’s population – would be subservient to the government in Havana.



“We seek a peaceful transition of power, but all options are open,” Trump said.



He likewise blasted Maduro for refusing to allow the entry into Venezuela of US humanitarian aid sitting in warehouses in the Colombian border city of Cucuta.



“Two days ago the first US Air Force C-17 landed in Colombia loaded with crucial assistance, including thousands of nutrition kits for little Venezuelan children,” Trump said. “Unfortunately dictator Maduro has blocked this life-saving aid from entering the country. He would rather see his people starve than give them aid.”



The Maduro administration denounces the aid program as a cover for US invasion.



Both the United Nations and the International Red Cross have rejected what they see as a politicized US approach to aid and say they will continue to work with the government in Caracas.



The 35-year-old Guaido has said that he will organize volunteers to bring the aid into Venezuela starting Feb. 23 if Maduro does not relent.



On Monday, the Maduro administration said that it planned to send more than 20,000 food parcels to the residents of Cucuta, along with physicians to offer free medical care to needy Colombians.



Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez appeared on state television to discuss the aid initiative as well as plans for a two-day “Hands Off Venezuela” music festival on the border in response to British mogul Richard Branson’ announcement of a Feb. 22 humanitarian benefit concert in Cucuta featuring performers such as Luis Fonsi, Juanes, Juan Luis Guerra, Alejandro Sanz, J Balvin and Carlos Vives.



At a press conference later Monday, Guaido called the planned aid to Cucuta and music festival “a mockery.”



The government “must be very cynical” to take such a position, he said.



Political polarization has accompanied a worsening economic situation in Venezuela, hard hit by the global collapse in prices for crude oil, its chief export.



On Jan. 23, Guaido, the speaker of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, proclaimed himself interim president hours after US Vice President Mike Pence encouraged him to take that step and assured him of Washington’s support.



Trump quickly recognized Guaido as president and roughly 50 other countries have followed suit, including Canada, Colombia, Argentina and Brazil, as well as major European powers France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom.



Those nations agree with the Venezuelan opposition that Maduro’s May 2018 re-election victory was a sham.



Russia, China, Iran and Turkey are among the countries that support Maduro.



Maduro and his allies say US-led economic sabotage is to blame for Venezuela’s shortages and hyperinflation.



But critics of the president and his late political mentor and predecessor, Hugo Chavez, say “socialist” policies have destroyed a once-prosperous economy.



Yet while Chavez liked to talk about “21st-century socialism,” the proportion of the Venezuelan economy under private control has expanded from 65 percent to 70 percent during the Chavez-Maduro era.



Polls show Maduro with an approval rating of under 30 percent. At the same time, fewer than 20 percent of Venezuelans had heard of Guaido before he proclaimed himself president.



Eighty-six percent of respondents in a recent survey said that they opposed foreign military intervention and 81 percent were against the economic sanctions Washington has imposed on Venezuela with the aim of toppling Maduro.</s>At a campaign-style speech in Miami on Monday, President Trump said the Venezuelan military should not interfere with humanitarian aid coming into the country, or resort to violence, as the U.S. and other nations throw their support behind parliamentary leader Juan Guaidó as interim president over the current leader, socialist Nicolas Maduro.

Trump cautioned that time is running out for Maduro and that those who have been slow to embrace the opposition leader, whom the U.S. recognized as that nation's legitimate president last month, are confronted with a perilous choice as the world watches.

Trump specifically addressed the military, saying that backing Guaidó would lead to "a safe and prosperous future for all of the people of Venezuela." But continuing to back Maduro, whom Trump called a "Cuban puppet," would lead to a world of personal suffering.

"If you choose this path you will find no safe harbor, no easy exit and no way out. You will lose everything," Trump said to cheers from the crowd. "They are risking their lives and risking their future for a man controlled by the Cuban military."

Trump accused Maduro and the handful of elites he said run the country of plundering the nation "into poverty and into death." And Trump railed against what he described as the "tyrannical socialist" governance that has brought the once-wealthy nation to the brink of ruin.

He urged military leaders to turn away from socialism and toward democracy, reiterating Guaidó's promises of amnesty under which military leaders would be allowed to live life "in peace with your families and your countryman."

"End this nightmare of poverty, hunger and death for your people," Trump pleaded, noting that the U.S. delivered a shipment of humanitarian assistance for Venezuela to Colombia over the weekend, including thousands of nutrition kits for children.

As NPR has reported, U.S. officials have admitted the delivery is part of a sweeping effort in the past two weeks to amass such a vast supply of much-needed food and medicine just out of reach of the desperate population, that Venezuelan military officers will be forced to capitulate and defy Maduro by allowing aid to enter the country.

So far, the Venezuelan president has refused to allow the foreign aid to cross the border, insisting it is "a Trojan horse" and "a precursor to an American invasion," NPR's Eyder Peralta told All Things Considered.

The supplies remain stuck, blocked by Maduro's army at the Colombian-Venezuelan border.

During the speech Trump said the U.S. seeks a peaceful transfer of power in Venezuela, but he added "all options are open."

The spirited speech did not contain any specifics regarding imminent diplomatic or policy changes. But, in what's likely a field-test of some of Trump's 2020 reelection themes, the president continually bashed socialism in the swing state of Florida before an audience of Venezuelan exiles and Cuban-Americans.

"The twilight hour of socialism has arrived," Trump said, adding that the 50 nations that have recognized Guaidó as the legitimate leader of Venezuela have a "shared interest in preventing the spread of "socialism."

Trump also condemned the "ugly alliance" between the Cuban and Venezuelan governments, which he said propped one another up.

"To those who would impose socialism on the U.S.," he said, "we again deliver a very simple message: America will never be a socialist country."

Trump's speech came on the same day that Maduro's government expelled a group of European Union diplomats who planned to meet with Guaidó .</s>Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó talks to FOX Business’ Trish Regan about the regime of disputed president Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan military, critical aid being blocked and the national call to action.

The chaos in socialist Venezuela continues as pro- and anti-government demonstrators clash over the leadership and legitimacy of the Maduro regime.

President Trump issued a dire warning to the Maduro army urging Venezuelan military officials to support the country’s opposition and refrain from any violence.

“I ask every member of the Maduro regime, end this nightmare of poverty, hunger and death for your people. Let your people go. Set your country free,” Trump said as he addressed the ongoing crisis in Venezuela at Florida International University's main campus in West Miami-Dade on Monday.

The Venezuelan people are in the midst of a humanitarian crisis as Maduro has reportedly blocked aid from entering the country, telling his military, “We are not beggars,” while insisting no such crisis exists in the South American country.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Regan earlier this month that Maduro is actively denying the Venezuelan people basic food and medical care.

“We tried to deliver humanitarian assistance from … the United States and Colombia into Venezuela and the Venezuelan military under the direction of Mr. Maduro stopped that,” Pompeo said.

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Trump called Maduro a “Cuban puppet” and addressed the Venezuelan military, suggesting the continuous backing of the socialist regime will lead to more suffering for the Latin American country and its people.

“If you choose this path, you will find no safe harbor, no easy exit and no way out. You will lose everything,” Trump said.

Watch Trish Regan's one-on-one exclusive interview with Guaidó tonight at 8 p.m. ET on “Trish Regan Primetime” on FOX Business.</s>President Donald Trump urged Venezuelan military officials to support the its self-declared interim president Juan Guaidó during a speech on Monday, in which he also said socialism had ravaged the country.

Trump spoke in front of a Venezuelan American community on Monday at Florida Ocean Bank Convocation Center at Florida International University in Miami.

The majority of his speech highlighted the political crisis in Venezuela and criticized socialism.

Speaking to a crowd of mostly Venezuelan and Cuban immigrants, Trump warned that military members who are helping Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro could be risking their lives.

"You will find no safe harbor, no easy exit and no way out. You will lose everything," he said.

Trump said there are "truckloads" of humanitarian aid at the Venezuelan border "waiting to help millions and millions in need."

On Saturday the US sent a military aircraft filled with aid for Venezuelan citizens to Colombia, but Maduro would not allow the contents into the country.

"Two days ago the first us air force C-17 landed in Colombia loaded with crucial assistance, including thousands of nutrition kits for little Venezuelan children," Trump said. "Unfortunately dictator Maduro has blocked this life-saving aid from entering the country. He would rather see his people starve than give them aid."

Read more: The US sent a military plane full of soap, toothbrushes, and nutritional products to Colombia to help Venezuelan citizens — but Venezuela's president won't accept it

Maduro, who is facing criticism over his management of Venezuela's economy, has said that accepting aid from the US could lead to a US military invasion and has blocked all foreign aid from entering the country.

Critics say Maduro's re-election last year was fraudulent, and a power struggle in the country led to a violent shutdown Saturday, according to the Associated Press.

Trump accused Maduro and a "small handful at the top of the Maduro regime" of failing the Venezuelan people.

"We know who they are and we know where they keep the billions of dollars they have stolen," Trump said.

He said he would like a "peaceful transition of power," to Guaidó, "but all options are open."

Trump also welcomed to the stage the mother of Oscar Perez, a Venezuelan police officer who was killed in a gun battle with authorities months after flying a helicopter over the country's capital and launching grenades at the Supreme Court building, the Associated Press reported.

Trump said in his speech that a "new day is coming in Latin America" and that what happened there "will never happen to us."

"Socialism is dying and liberty, prosperity and democracy are being reborn" he said, adding that he hopes soon that "This will become the first free hemisphere in all of human history."

Trump has previously used the economic situation in Venezuela as a way to warn voters that Democratic politics will turn the US into Venezuela.
• Rep. Ilhan Omar had a heated exchange with Trump's Venezuela envoy over his role in the US's violent history in Central America
• Venezuela's Maduro says he has held secret meetings with US officials even after Trump publicly backed his opponent
• Russia says Venezuela hasn't asked for any military assistance amid its deepening crisis
• Amid economic meltdown, semi-secret operations in Venezuela turn its useless bank notes into gold</s>U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday warned members of Venezuela’s military who remain loyal to socialist President Nicolas Maduro that they are risking their future and their lives and urged them to allow humanitarian aid into the country.

Speaking to a cheering crowd mostly of Venezuelan and Cuban immigrants in Miami, Trump said if the Venezuelan military continues supporting Maduro, “you will find no safe harbor, no easy exit and no way out. You’ll lose everything.”

Maduro retaliated late on Monday that Trump’s speech was “nazi-style” and said he acted as if he were the owner of Venezuela and its citizens his slaves.

Trump offered strong backing for Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, whom the United States, many of Venezuela’s neighbors and most Western countries have recognized as interim president of Venezuela.

But Maduro, who won a second term last year in an election that critics denounced as a sham, retains the backing of Russia and China and control of Venezuelan state institutions, including the security services.

Trump cautioned Venezuelan armed forces not to harm Guaido or other opposition politicians, urged them to accept the National Assembly leader’s offer of amnesty and demanded that they allow in food, medicine and other supplies.

Guaido, who invoked constitutional provisions to declare himself the country’s leader last month, has said that aid will enter Venezuela from neighboring countries by land and sea on Saturday.

The United States has sent tons of aid that is being stockpiled on Colombia’s border with Venezuela, but Maduro has refused to let it in.

Maduro calls the aid a U.S.-orchestrated show and denies any crisis despite many Venezuelans’ scant access to food and medicine.

“We will not make of the honorable Venezuela a Venezuela of beggars,” he said in televised comments on Monday. “We will not accept it.”

Maduro said Venezuela already received “humanitarian assistance” on a daily basis. Russia, for example, was sending 300 tonnes of aid to the country by plane on Wednesday, he said, albeit clarifying this was not a donation but supplies for which Venezuela had paid.

“We seek a peaceful transition of power but all options are open,” Trump said. It was a further hint of Trump’s repeated insistence that military options remain on the table, though most Latin America experts believe such action is unlikely.The United States has had direct communications with members of Venezuela’s military urging them to abandon Maduro, a senior White House official told Reuters this month, and Trump’s aides have openly predicted more defections.

But so far, few military officers have turned against Maduro.

A source in Washington close to the opposition expressed doubts whether the Trump administration has done sufficient groundwork to spur a wider mutiny in the ranks, where many officers are suspected of benefiting from corruption and drug trafficking.

Guaido, in a videotaped message to the crowd at Florida International University, called it a “decisive moment” to exert pressure on Maduro from inside and outside the country.

Trump also used his speech to rail against socialism as a “dying” ideology in the Western Hemisphere and to brand Maduro a “puppet” of communist-ruled Cuba.

While the Republican president did not directly equate socialism with the Democratic party, as he appeared to do in his State of the Union speech this month, he alluded to his earlier criticism of domestic policies proposed by some liberal Democrats.

“America will never be a socialist country,” he said.

Trump wants to boost support among Florida’s Hispanic voters as he looks ahead to his re-election campaign in 2020, when Florida is again expected to be an important swing state.</s>CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Nicolas Maduro said in an AP interview Thursday that his foreign minister recently held secret talks in New York with the U.S. special envoy to Venezuela, even as the Trump…

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Nicolas Maduro said in an AP interview Thursday that his foreign minister recently held secret talks in New York with the U.S. special envoy to Venezuela, even as the Trump administration was publicly backing an effort to unseat the Venezuelan president.

While harshly criticizing Donald Trump’s confrontational stance toward his socialist government, Maduro said he holds out hope of meeting the U.S. president soon to resolve a crisis over America’s recognition of opponent Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s rightful leader.

Maduro said that while in New York, his foreign minister invited the Washington, D.C.-based envoy, Elliott Abrams, to come to Venezuela “privately, publicly or secretly.”

“If he wants to meet, just tell me when, where and how and I’ll be there,” Maduro said without providing more details. He said both New York meetings lasted several hours.

A senior administration official in Washington who was not authorized to speak publicly said U.S. officials were willing to meet with “former Venezuela officials, including Maduro himself, to discuss their exit plans.”

Venezuela is plunging deeper into a political chaos triggered by the U.S. demand that Maduro step down a month into a second term that the U.S. and its allies in Latin America consider illegitimate. His opponent, the 35-year-old Guaido, burst onto the political stage in January in the first viable challenge in years to Maduro’s hold on power.

As head of the Congress, Guaido declared himself interim president on Jan. 23, saying he had a constitutional right to assume presidential powers from the “tyrant” Maduro. He has since garnered broad support, calling massive street protests and winning recognition from the U.S. and dozens of nations in Latin America and Europe who share his goal of removing Maduro.

The escalating crisis is taking place against a backdrop of economic and social turmoil that has led to severe shortages of food and medicine that have forced millions to flee the once-prosperous OPEC nation.

Two senior Venezuelan officials who were not authorized to discuss the meetings publicly said the two encounters between Abrams and Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza came at the request of the U.S.

The first one on Jan. 26 they described as hostile, with the U.S. envoy threatening Venezuela with the deployment of troops and chastising the Venezuelan government for allegedly being in league with Cuba, Russia and Hezbollah.

When they met again this week, the atmosphere was less tense, even though the Feb. 11 encounter came four days after Abrams said the “time for dialogue with Maduro had long passed.” During that meeting, Abrams insisted that severe U.S. sanctions would oust Maduro even if Venezuela’s military stuck by him.

Abrams gave no indication the U.S. was prepared to ease demands Maduro step down. Still, the Venezuelans saw the meetings as a sign there is room for discussion with the Americans despite the tough public rhetoric coming from Washington.

At turns conciliatory and combative, Maduro said all Venezuela needs to rebound is for Trump to remove his “infected hand” from the country that sits atop the world’s largest petroleum reserves.

He said U.S. sanctions on the oil industry are to blame for mounting hardships even though shortages and hyperinflation that economists say topped 1 million percent long predates Trump’s recent action.

“The infected hand of Donald Trump is hurting Venezuela,” Maduro said.

The sanctions effectively ban all oil purchases by the U.S., which had been Venezuela’s biggest oil buyer until now. Maduro said he will make up for the sudden drop in revenue by targeting markets in Asia, especially India, where the head of state-run oil giant PDVSA was this week negotiating new oil sales.

“We’ve been building a path to Asia for many years,” he said. “It’s a successful route, every year they are buying larger volumes and amounts of oil.”

He also cited the continued support of China and especially Russia, which has been a major supplier of loans, weapons and oil investment over the years. He said that backing from Russian President Vladimir Putin runs the risk of converting the current crisis into a high-risk geopolitical fight between the U.S. and Russia that recalls some of the most-dangerous brinkmanship of the Cold War.

Amid the mounting pressure at home and abroad, Maduro said he won’t give up power as a way to defuse the standoff.

He called boxes of U.S.-supplied humanitarian aid sitting in a warehouse on the border in Colombia mere “crumbs” after the U.S. administration froze billions of dollars in the nation’s oil revenue and overseas assets.

“They hang us, steal our money and then say ‘here, grab these crumbs’ and make a global show out of it,” said Maduro. “With dignity we say ‘No to the global show.’ Whoever wants to help Venezuela is welcome, but we have enough capacity to pay for everything that we need.”

Opponents say the 56-year-old former bus driver has lost touch with his working-class roots, accusing him of ordering mass arrests and starving Venezuelans while he and regime insiders — including the top military brass — line their pockets through corruption.

But Maduro shrugged off the label of “dictator,” attributing it to an ideologically driven media campaign by the West to undermine the socialist revolution started by the late Hugo Chavez.

He said he won’t resign, seeing his place in history alongside other Latin American leftists from Salvador Allende in Chile to Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala who in decades past had been the target of U.S.-backed coups.

“I’m not afraid,” he said, adding that even last year’s attack on him with explosives-laden drones during a military ceremony didn’t shake his resolve. “I’m only worried about the destiny of the fatherland and of our people, our boys and girls….this is what gives me energy.”

This story has been amended to correct the day that Juan Guaido declared himself interim president.

Copyright © 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.</s>US President Donald Trump on February 18 warned members of Venezuela's military who remain loyal to socialist President Nicolas Maduro that they are risking their future and their lives and urged them to allow humanitarian aid into the country.

Speaking to a cheering crowd mostly of Venezuelan and Cuban immigrants in Miami, Trump said if the Venezuelan military continues supporting Maduro, "you will find no safe harbor, no easy exit and no way out. You'll lose everything.

Maduro retaliated late on February 18 that Trump's speech was "nazi-style" and said he acted as if he were the owner of Venezuela and its citizens his slaves.

Trump offered strong backing for Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, whom the United States, many of Venezuela's neighbors and most Western countries have recognized as interim president of Venezuela.

But Maduro, who won a second term last year in an election that critics denounced as a sham, retains the backing of Russia and China and control of Venezuelan state institutions, including the security services.

Trump cautioned Venezuelan armed forces not to harm Guaido or other opposition politicians, urged them to accept the National Assembly leader's offer of amnesty and demanded that they allow in food, medicine and other supplies.

Guaido, who invoked constitutional provisions to declare himself the country's leader last month, has said that aid will enter Venezuela from neighboring countries by land and sea on Saturday.

The United States has sent tons of aid that is being stockpiled on Colombia's border with Venezuela, but Maduro has refused to let it in.

Maduro calls the aid a US-orchestrated show and denies any crisis despite many Venezuelans' scant access to food and medicine.

"We will not make of the honorable Venezuela a Venezuela of beggars," he said in televised comments on February 18. "We will not accept it."

Maduro said Venezuela already received "humanitarian assistance" on a daily basis. Russia, for example, was sending 300 tonnes of aid to the country by plane on Wednesday, he said, albeit clarifying this was not a donation but supplies for which Venezuela had paid.

We seek a peaceful transition of power but all options are open," Trump said. It was a further hint of Trump's repeated insistence that military options remain on the table, though most Latin America experts believe such action is unlikely.The United States has had direct communications with members of Venezuela's military urging them to abandon Maduro, a senior White House official told Reuters this month, and Trump's aides have openly predicted more defections.

But so far, few military officers have turned against Maduro.

A source in Washington close to the opposition expressed doubts whether the Trump administration has done sufficient groundwork to spur a wider mutiny in the ranks, where many officers are suspected of benefiting from corruption and drug trafficking.

Guaido, in a videotaped message to the crowd at Florida International University, called it a "decisive moment" to exert pressure on Maduro from inside and outside the country.

Trump also used his speech to rail against socialism as a "dying" ideology in the Western Hemisphere and to brand Maduro a "puppet" of communist-ruled Cuba.

While the Republican president did not directly equate socialism with the Democratic party, as he appeared to do in his State of the Union speech this month, he alluded to his earlier criticism of domestic policies proposed by some liberal Democrats.

"America will never be a socialist country," he said.

Trump wants to boost support among Florida's Hispanic voters as he looks ahead to his re-election campaign in 2020, when Florida is again expected to be an important swing state.
In a speech, U.S. President Donald Trump urges the Venezuelan military to abandon Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro or "lose everything".