Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez declared Sunday that the island nation would defend itself "to the last drop of blood," responding to pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to strike a deal with Washington. 

President Trump had spoken about Cuba in a Truth Social post earlier in the day, urging that "they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE."

"Those who blame the Revolution for the severe economic shortages we suffer should hold their tongues out of shame. Because they know it and acknowledge it: they are the fruit of the draconian measures of extreme strangulation that the U.S. has been applying to us for six decades and now threatens to surpass," the Cuban wrote on X, according to a translation of the Spanish-language post. 

"#Cuba is a free, independent, and sovereign nation. No one dictates what we do. Cuba does not aggress; it is aggressed upon by the United States for 66 years, and it does not threaten; it prepares, ready to defend the Homeland to the last drop of blood," he wrote in another post, according to the translation.

CUBA IDENTIFIES 32 MILITARY PERSONNEL KILLED IN US OPERATION AGAINST MADURO REGIME IN VENEZUELA

U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., who was born in Cuba, responded to the foreign figure's post.

"You dictators, henchmen, and executioners of the Cuban nation think you own the island. You don't have much time left," he declared, according to the translation of his post, also written in Spanish.

CUBAN-BORN GOP LAWMAKER WARNS VENEZUELA ELECTIONS MUST HAPPEN IN ‘MONTHS,’ NOT ‘YEARS’ AFTER MADURO DOWNFALL

Trump declared in a Truth Social post on Sunday, "Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela. In return, Cuba provided ‘Security Services’ for the last two Venezuelan dictators, BUT NOT ANYMORE! Most of those Cubans are DEAD from last weeks U.S.A. attack, and Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years.

"Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will. THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO! I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE," he warned.

TRUMP ULTIMATUM TO CUBA: ‘MAKE A DEAL, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE’ OR FACE CONSEQUENCES

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Rep. Gimenez thanked the president.

"I was born in Cuba & forced from home shortly after the Communist takeover. Today, I represent my community in Congress. Thank you, President Trump, first Venezuela & next is Cuba. We will be forever grateful. Our hemisphere must be the hemisphere of liberty," the lawmaker wrote in a post on X.

Normally, the Supreme Court hears cases that deal with matters of law. 

But on Tuesday, Jan. 13, the justices will also be dealing with basic science. Not only that, they’ll be debating fundamental truth, as I can personally testify. 

The stakes couldn’t be higher in the case, West Virginia v. B.P.J. v. B.P.J. The specific question facing the court is simple: Should transgender boys be allowed to compete on girls’ sports teams? But you can’t really answer this question without asking a more important one: Can a young boy or a girl actually change genders? 

I asked this question myself, starting at age 12. I gave the wrong answer.

TRANS ATHLETE AT CENTER OF SUPREME COURT CASE ACCUSED OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT, INTIMIDATION TACTICS AGAINST GIRLS

I was a classic tomboy — a girl who didn’t act and dress the way other girls did. I never felt like I fit in. But instead of realizing that I was in a normal phase of life, I got sucked into the world of social media and video games. That’s where I met people who told me that no, I wasn’t actually a girl. They told me I was a boy. That I should change my body to reflect who I "really was inside." 

I believed them. I went to doctors who gave me puberty blockers, blocking my normal development. Soon after, they started me on cross-sex hormones, so that I’d start to look more like a boy. Then, at age 15, the doctors gave me a double mastectomy. I figured that without a girl’s chest, I’d finally be happy. As a boy, why would I want to keep my breasts? 

By age 16, I realized how wrong I was. But I couldn’t go back. The puberty blockers and hormones changed my body, to the point that I no longer recognized myself in the mirror. And the chest surgery — how do you undo that? I’m now in my early 20s, and to this day, I have bandages where my breasts used to be. 

I know the truth now: I’m a girl. I always have been. I always will be. I can’t change that — because it’s scientifically and biologically impossible. No matter how many drugs or surgeries they get, kids who think they’re transgender really aren’t. They’re just confused. And in their confusion, doctors and activists are pushing them down a road of even more confusion. It’s also a road of unspeakable grief, worse than anything I ever experienced when I was 12 and felt like I didn’t fit in.

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These deeply confused kids are at the center of the case before the Supreme Court. We’re talking about boys who are competing against girls, which is deeply and obviously unfair. Even a boy who’s taken puberty blockers and hormones is going to have an advantage over girls. It’s basic science, written into their biology. No medical treatment can change who they are. Sex-change treatments just cover up the truth under a veneer of self-deception and socially acceptable lies. 

The justices must see through it all. No doubt, the lawyers on the transgender side will try to trick them with arguments about equal treatment and human rights. But this isn’t about rights — it’s about the deep and profound wrong that is child transgenderism.

The only rights that are being violated are girls’ rights to compete fairly, without being forced to go up against boys. And states have a right — and a duty — to protect girls. For that matter, states have a duty to protect all children from transgender treatments of any kind. The Supreme Court has already given states the green light to keep kids safe from radical activism masquerading as medicine. Now the justices should extend that logic by protecting girls’ sports. 

Because at the end of the day, this isn’t just about law. It’s about science and truth. And that’s why the Supreme Court must reject the transgender lie. 

Tens of thousands of anti-ICE protesters took to the streets of major cities across the country this weekend in a raft of demonstrations largely organized by a coalition of left-wing groups.

The ICE Out for Good coalition called for a "weekend of action" starting Saturday, organizing more than 1,000 events nationwide. The coalition was largely organized by Indivisible, the same left-wing group that pushed "No Kings" protests against President Donald Trump in 2025.

Protests focus on the death of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis last week. She was killed in a confrontation with ICE agents after federal authorities say she attempted to run over one of the officers.

"Renee Nicole Good was a wife, a mother of three, and a member of her community. She, and the dozens of other sons, daughters, friends, siblings, parents, and community members who have been killed by ICE, should be alive today," said Indivisible co-executive director Leah Greenberg.

MINNEAPOLIS MAYOR DEMANDS STATE BE INCLUDED IN ICE-INVOLVED SHOOTING PROBE, SLAMS PAM BONDI'S DOJ

"This weekend, people across the country are coming together to grieve, honor those we’ve lost, and demand accountability from a system that has operated with impunity for far too long. ICE’s violence is not a statistic, it has names, families, and futures attached to it, and we refuse to look away or stay silent," she added.

Protests led to scuffles with police and arrests in several states on Saturday. Austin Police detained at least three anti-ICE agitators as protests escalated there.

Footage also shows Los Angeles police facing down protesters outside an ICE detention center.

PORTLAND AGITATORS CLASH WITH POLICE AFTER 2 SHOT BY FEDERAL IMMIGRATION AGENT

Multiple arrests were made after a dispersal order was issued and protesters refused to leave the area as instructed, according to LAPD. Multiple agitators were seen on video being detained just before 7 p.m. local time.

"You must leave the area," police wrote in a statement on X.

Members of the Trump administration have reiterated that the ICE operations are targeting criminal illegal aliens. Vice President JD Vance highlighted a list of individuals arrested in Minnesota that includes convicted child rapists and murderers.

"Arresting and deporting these people is absolutely critical to national security. National democrats are going to get our law enforcement killed if they don't stop lying about this issue and the people working to keep us safe," Vance wrote on X.

A 24-year-old Mississippi man accused of killing six people — including family members, a child and a church pastor — in a violent shooting rampage that unfolded across multiple rural locations Friday night may face the death penalty, prosecutors said.

Daricka M. Moore was being held without bail at the Clay County jail in West Point on murder charges in connection with the killings of his father, brother, uncle, 7-year-old cousin, a church pastor and the pastor’s brother.

Moore is expected to make an initial appearance in court before a judge on Monday. He would likely be appointed a public defender at that time, Clay County District Attorney Scott Colom told The Associated Press.

Colom said he expects to pursue the death penalty against Moore. If charges are upgraded to capital murder before the court appearance, Moore will be ineligible for bail under state law.

MURDER IN SMALL-TOWN AMERICA: THE CRIMES THAT TORE QUIET COMMUNITIES APART IN 2025

Moore was arrested just before midnight at a police roadblock in Cedarbluff after dozens of local, state and federal officers flooded northeast Mississippi. The shootings unfolded across a rural stretch of fields, woods and modest homes.

Clay County Sheriff Eddie Scott said evidence and witness accounts show Moore acted alone. No other injuries were reported.

Investigators continue to question Moore but have not yet determined a motive, Scott said.

"A situation like this, you’ve got a family member attacking their own family," Scott said. "Whatever the reason is, we’re hoping that we’ll find out."

Investigators believe Moore first killed his father, 67-year-old Glenn Moore; his brother, 33-year-old Quinton Moore; and his uncle, 55-year-old Willie Ed Guines, inside the family’s mobile home on a dirt road in western Clay County.

Scott said Moore then stole his brother’s truck and drove a few miles to a cousin’s home, where he forced his way inside and attempted to commit sexual battery. He then put a gun to the head of a 7-year-old girl and fatally shot her.

"I don’t know what kind of motive you could have to kill a 7-year-old," Scott said.

The girl’s mother and another child were also inside the home.

Witnesses told investigators Moore later held a gun to the head of a younger child, but she was not shot. It remains unclear whether he pulled the trigger or the weapon malfunctioned.

"That’s how violent it was," Scott said.

MELODEE BUZZARD’S GRANDMOTHER SHREDS POSSIBLE INSANITY DEFENSE FOR ACCUSED KILLER MOM: ‘PLANNED EVERYTHING’

Moore then drove to the Apostolic Church of The Lord Jesus, a small white-framed church nearby that some members of Moore’s family attend, Scott said. Moore allegedly broke into a residence on the church grounds, killed the pastor and his brother, and stole one of their vehicles.

The victims were identified as the Rev. Barry Bradley and Samuel Bradley. Scott said the two typically lived in nearby Columbus but spent weekends at the church.

Authorities arrested Moore at a roadblock at 11:24 p.m., about four and a half hours after the first 911 call, Scott said. Prosecutors said Moore was armed with both a rifle and a handgun. Investigators are working to determine how he obtained the weapons.

The state medical examiner is conducting autopsies on all six victims.

Scott said the shootings had left Moore's surviving family and the small community "really shaken."

"It was really hard to have conversations other than prayers with everybody out there," he said.

Colom said he is confident his office has the resources to prosecute Moore and believes seeking the death penalty is appropriate.

"Six people, one night, several different scenes, it’s about as bad as it gets," Colom said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Minnesota Democrat Gov. Tim Walz pulled out the smears last May at a law-school graduation. The agents of Immigrations and Custom Enforcement (ICE) were "Trump’s modern-day Gestapo," "scooping folks up off the streets." It had been Joe Biden’s ICE just four months earlier. How quickly can an agency descend into fascism? 

The national broadcast networks never found that objectionable or newsworthy. The "independent fact-checkers" yawned. Comparing President Donald Trump to Hitler is 24/7 Democrat messaging. Comparing law-enforcement agencies to storm troopers is perfectly fine – when the Democrats aren’t in charge of them. 

It’s become clear that Democrats from Walz on down don’t just oppose mass deportation. They oppose any deportations. They don’t welcome cooperation with ICE. They push resistance against ICE. 

Because ICE is now relentlessly demonized, it shouldn’t be surprising that they’ve been on the receiving end of violence. The broadcast networks yawn. In September in Chicago, an illegal alien ran over and dragged an ICE agent in Chicago until the alien was shot dead. But there was no sympathy for the dragged agent on ABC, CBS, NBC or PBS.

COLBERT WARNS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IS IMPOSING AN 'OBEY OR DIE' DOCTRINE ON AMERICANS

Last December in St. Paul, Minn., an illegal alien allegedly ran over an ICE agent and bit another agent when he was apprehended. The national networks showed they don’t care. They didn’t bring that up after the latest incident. 

The death of Renee Nicole Good when she threatened to drive into an ICE agent is a tragedy. If activists like Good wanted to protest ICE by showing up wherever they seek to enforce the law and film it on their phones, that’s in our First Amendment tradition. But it’s a crime to get involved in trying to impede law enforcement activity. 

Everyone knew how the broadcast networks would cover this death, with massive energy and outrage. That didn’t happen for women killed by illegal immigrants. We can guess the elitist media would say these murders were atypical for illegal immigrants. But using that logic, apparently ICE shooting a protester is typical for them?

ICE AGENTS REPORT ‘UNPRECEDENTED’ 3,200% SURGE IN CAR ATTACKS LAST YEAR

The broadcast networks didn’t care about 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray being raped and murdered, or the rape and murder of Maryland mom Rachel Morin. When they gave 20 minutes to the trial of Laken Riley’s illegal-immigrant killer last November, it paled in comparison to the 78 minutes the networks gave a little-known comedian at a Trump rally last October calling Puerto Rico "a floating island of garbage." They were all trying to get former Vice President Kamala Harris and Walz into the White House.  

Not everyone let Democrats rant without a challenge, like Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey demanding ICE "get the f--- out of Minneapolis." Newly minted "CBS Evening News" anchor Tony Dokoupil asked Frey: "The rhetoric we just heard, other things you have said, you've now got protesters in the streets saying things like ‘Nazis go home.’ How are you helping the situation calm down?" Frey basically said he won’t: "What I appreciate about this situation right now is we in Minneapolis are all singing with one accord, which is, one, we are going to stand up for our immigrant community. Two, we are going to keep people safe." 

Democrats routinely call illegal immigrants "our neighbors," our "immigrant community," and describe opposing deportation as "keeping people safe." Frey and the others say ICE isn’t stopping crime, it’s engaged in crime, it’s "sowing chaos." Radicals impeding ICE activity aren’t engaged in chaos, but in "keeping people safe." All of that sounds Orwellian. 

But don’t call activists like Good "radical." The press pretends she was "just a mom." On NBC’s "Today, reporter Maggie Vespa broke out the "without evidence" claim:  "The Trump administration defending his actions, including Vice President JD Vance in a rare appearance in the White House Briefing Room saying without evidence that [Renee] Good was radicalized ... white local officials, including the city's mayor, dispute the Trump administration's narrative."

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Whenever these networks say "without evidence," it’s because they didn’t look. The New York Post reported Good was an anti-ICE "warrior" who sent her son to Southside Family Charter School, a K-5 academy opened in 1972 that from its inception has been "unabashedly dedicated to social justice education." 

The broadcast networks didn’t just rant against Trump and ICE on the newscasts. Speaking of Venezuela, ABC "comedian" Jimmy Kimmel brought out a red T-shirt, "They’re trying out a new slogan: ‘DONALD J. TRUMP IS GONNA KILL YOU.’ Pretty good, right?" Moving on to Minneapolis, Kimmel retorted, "This maniac, he isn't just killing people overseas. An ICE agent today shot and killed an unarmed 37-year-old woman during an ICE operation in Minneapolis, who were there under the guise of protecting us."

On ABC’s "The View," they took their loathing of Trump to a new level, scaring their own audience after the Minneapolis shooting. Cohost Whoopi Goldberg asserted, "That young lady could have been anybody in this audience. It doesn't matter what -- forget color. Forget everything. It could have been anybody and if they can do this to her, they can do it to you, too." 

You can count on these networks to avoid left-wing rhetorical excess – when they’re not engaged in it. Accounts on X circulated video of a protest in New York’s Foley Square where they chanted "Kristi Noem will Hang!" and "Save a life, kill an ICE!" You might call it the spirit of the post-George Floyd riots of 2020 and the networks won’t disparage it. They’ll use it to announce "growing outrage tonight" against ICE and Trump. 

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Protests have swept all 31 of Iran’s provinces, defying the regime’s efforts to crush dissent through internet blackouts and lethal force. In an unprecedented step, a U.S. president has publicly pledged support for the Iranian people, warning that continued repression could invite American intervention. With Iran’s leadership facing its gravest internal challenge in decades, the United States must now match rhetoric with action and help the Iranian people translate unrest into real pressure to collapse the regime.

While these protests originally addressed financial hardships among Tehran’s shopkeepers, they have quickly spiraled into a nationwide movement calling for the ayatollah’s downfall.

Despite the Iranian rial’s value reaching an all-time low in December due to international sanctions, and with Iran experiencing its worst drought in 40 years, the regime has continued exporting its Islamic Revolution. Iran’s constant military build-up and foreign intervention have left many Iranians unable to afford groceries or access clean water, prompting demonstrations against the country’s resource mismanagement beginning Dec. 28, 2025.

GEN. JACK KEANE WARNS IRANIAN REGIME TO TAKE TRUMP 'DEAD SERIOUS' ON PROTEST KILLING THREAT AMID ONGOING DEMONSTRATIONS

Underlying tensions from the 2022 murder of Mahsa Amini, whose brutal killing by Iran’s Morality Police sparked the global "Women, Life, Freedom" protests, have only intensified since the 12-Day War as the regime increasingly detains those it considers "threats" to its authority, including minorities and alleged Sharia law violators.

Beyond internal strife, Iran’s radical government and its Axis of Resistance lie at the core of instability in the Middle East.

Since 1979, Iran and its terrorist proxies in Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, and the Palestinian territories have endangered Americans and U.S. allies by launching terrorist attacks and igniting wars while also hindering the region’s economic growth and human capital. For instance, Houthi attacks in the Red Sea have disrupted international trade and oil operations in the Arabian Peninsula while Iran-backed fighters have killed hundreds of Americans in the Middle East.

As Iran advanced its nuclear program, amassed more than 2,500 ballistic missiles, and smuggled weapons to its proxies, the regime has destroyed its economy, leaving its citizens without basic needs.

EXILED IRANIAN PRINCE SAYS REGIME ‘VERY CLOSE TO COLLAPSING' AMID NATIONWIDE UNREST

While exerting control domestically and struggling to preserve its failing government, Iran relies on Russian and Chinese support amidst political isolation and international sanctions. As Iran provides China with discounted oil and illegally exports weapons to Russia to sustain the Kremlin’s war effort, Moscow and Beijing politically and militarily support Tehran while also facilitating sanctions evasion. Together, they advance anti-Western sentiments, seeking to undermine U.S. power.

With the regime at its weakest, now is the time for the United States and its allies to extinguish the Ayatollah’s dying flame, while also learning from, and making up for, the failed 1953 U.S.-backed Iranian coup by launching a comprehensive strategy to support the Iranian people in expedite the regime’s collapse.

To start, the Trump administration should establish new State Department projects to help Iranians access secure Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). Approximately 86% of Iranians use VPNs to bypass government restrictions and online surveillance. With expanded access to more secure VPNs amidst the internet outage, Iranians can more safely organize protests and express dissent with a lowered risk of message interception.

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The United States should also pressure its partners to sanction Chinese companies that sell advanced surveillance technology to Iran, complicating the regime’s ability to obtain these devices. While the United States has sanctioned Tiandy Technologies, Huawei, and ZTE Corporation, several American partners maintain business ties with these suppliers. The European Commission recommended banning European Union cooperation with Huawei and ZTE in 2020, but officials have yet to sign the recommendation into law.

To disrupt the government’s monitoring and harassment of protesters, the United States and its partners should utilize all available cyber tools to compromise Iranian surveillance systems. Specifically, these forces should target government CCTV networks, counter efforts to build the National Information Network (NIN), a network that monitors Iranian internet traffic and restricts content, and erase Department 40’s Revealer database where the government’s cyber intelligence unit stores citizens’ personal information collected for spying on and threatening dissidents worldwide.

Lastly, the United States and its allies should prepare an asymmetric military campaign plan in the event of renewed conflict with Iran. In contrast to President Barack Obama’s hesitation to address the 2009 Green Movement, President Donald Trump should honor his warning to the Ayatollah by drafting a target list of Iranian government entities that primarily repress free speech and violate human rights, such as the military’s command and control centers, cyber police headquarters, and Morality Police establishments.

With a comprehensive strategy to facilitate the Iranian regime’s collapse, the United States and its partners can support the Iranian people in their decades-long struggle for freedom, paving the way for a more secure Middle East.

Sarah Havdala is a Policy Analyst at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA). 

The capture of Venezuelan tyrant and narco-terrorist Nicolas Maduro is a triumph for the United States, and one for which President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the great warriors who executed last Saturday’s mission deserve every plaudit. Thanks to this administration, we could be looking at a future in which Venezuelan drugs are off American streets, migrants return home to build a better future in a free and prosperous Venezuela, and Maduro’s authoritarian allies in Beijing, Tehran and Moscow no longer have a beachhead from which to wreak havoc throughout the Americas.  

But that immense achievement could evaporate if we don’t get the next part right.  

According to reports, the administration is demanding that interim President Delcy Rodriguez commit to cracking down on drug trafficking; kicking out foreign operatives hostile to the United States; ending the sale of oil to U.S. adversaries; and, eventually, facilitating free elections.  

These are absolutely the correct priorities. But we should be under no illusion: none of the first three demands will be met if we do not loudly and publicly prioritize the restoration of Venezuelan democracy.

NOBEL PEACE PRIZE RECIPIENT MACHADO PLEDGES TO RETURN TO VENEZUELA, SEES 'ALARMING' INTERNAL CRACKDOWN

As secretary of State in the first Trump administration, I dealt with Rodriguez and her cohort firsthand, and can personally attest to their hardline socialist, anti-American credentials.  

There is zero reason to believe that Rodriguez and her cronies will do anything more than attempt to buy time while securing their positions as part of a reconstituted, Maduro-in-all-but-name government. These people are ideologically and financially committed to the horrible governing model that has destroyed their once wealthy country and will do everything in their power to keep the status quo in place.  

Such an outcome would completely defeat the purpose of America’s audacious intervention – and in the long term, would undermine President Donald Trump’s goal of reasserting American dominance of the Western Hemisphere.

TRUMP UNLEASHES THE 'DONROE DOCTRINE' AND PUTS SOCIALISTS ON NOTICE WORLDWIDE

Let’s be clear: Rodriguez has no legal authority to occupy the office she currently holds, and only became "vice president" thanks to two stolen elections and rule by corruption and fear. Venezuela does in fact have a legitimate constitutional alternative ready to govern. Despite every possible obstacle put in their path, the Venezuelan people have voted in successive elections for the democratic opposition candidate: first Juan Guaidó in 2019, then Edmundo Gonzalez, who stood in for opposition leader Maria Corina Machado after she was disqualified from running in 2024.  

Gonzalez won 70% of the vote; had Machado been allowed to run, the margin would likely have been even greater. That would be a stunning mandate in a functioning democracy – in an authoritarian system where the state uses all available levers to suppress the opposition, it is truly remarkable.  

In both elections, the rightful presidents were prevented from taking power by the Maduro government. But the opposition did not retreat; it focused on ensuring that when the moment of freedom came, they would be ready to lead. Their goals for Venezuela match our own: an end to state-backed narco-trafficking; the restoration of private property and a productive, free market economy; and the defenestration of Cuba, Iran, China and Russia from their country.  

In keeping with the approach, we took during my time at the State Department – when we made the bold decision to recognize Guaidó as the rightful president of Venezuela – the current administration should recognize Gonzalez as interim president as a first step in the country’s democratic transition.

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Given the irregular circumstances in which the 2024 elections took place, it would make the most sense to hold new, special elections at some point in the future. But the legitimacy of Gonzalez and Machado cannot be in doubt; they must have a leading role in the country’s transition, and America should make that abundantly clear.  

The very same pressure – oil sanctions enforcement, interdictions, air space controls – can be used to force the Venezuelan military, the true infrastructure glue for Chavista rule, to change its ways. And, if Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino won’t grant President Gonzalez effective control over the armed forces, the United States can do the necessary to support the choice made by the people of Venezuela.

This isn’t regime change – it’s recovering Venezuela’s existing constitutional order, which was trampled upon by the illegitimate Maduro regime but is in fact the country’s true legal governing authority. And from a position of pure self-interest, it’s the only way to ensure that the most pro-American, pro-free market voices take power in Venezuela, and prevent our adversaries from regaining their foothold in our hemisphere.  

None of this will be easy. But if the administration wants to maximize the gains of the past week, committing to a roadmap that empowers Venezuela’s legitimate democratic opposition is the only way forward.  

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