Cuba’s foreign ministry has reported on flights made by US military non-combat aircraft from American military bases, where special ops units and marines are based, in the direction of Caribbean states, which Venezuela notably belongs to. The military units that the said bases house are known to be conducting “covert operations against other countries’ leaders”, the statement reads.
“Between 6 February and 10 February 2019, military non-combat aircraft conducted flights in the direction of Rafael Miranda airport in Puerto Rico, San Isidro Air Base in the Dominican Republic and other Caribbean islands that have strategic locations, while the countries’ governments were presumably unaware of the move,” the foreign ministry’s statement reads.
In light of this, the Cuban government has condemned the US government’s move to prepare “a military adventure under the cover of a “humanitarian intervention” in the Republic of Venezuela, the statements went on to say.
The Cuban foreign ministry called on the international community to prevent a military intervention in Venezuela’s domestic affairs.
“Cuba is urging other countries to act jointly, irrespective of political or ideological standoffs, in order to stop another imperialistic military intervention in Our America (Latin),” Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodriguez wrote on Twitter.
#EEUU prepara una aventura militar disfrazada de “intervención humanitaria” en #Venezuela. #Cuba llama a la comunidad internacional a actuar unida, por encima de diferencias políticas o ideológicas, para detener una nueva intervención militar imperialista en #NuestraAmérica
— Bruno Rodríguez P (@BrunoRguezP) 14 февраля 2019 г.
Earlier, Cuba endorsed Nicolas Maduro as Venezuelan president and Cuban President and head of the Cuban Council of Ministers Miguel Díaz-Canel called out the US initiative, which suggested that the UN’s Security Council adopt a resolution obliging Venezuela to accept aid from foreign countries. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro made a statement asserting that he would fend off all foreign humanitarian aid, which the opposition so vehemently insists on. According to him, Venezuela is capable of satisfying its people’s needs on its own and should by no means ask for anybody else’s help.
READ MORE: Russia Suspects Venezuela Coup by Military Means Becoming US Priority
Meanwhile, multiple assumptions have been around over a potential US military intervention into Venezuela after US President Donald Trump told CBS in a February 2 interview that such a course of actions was "an option." However, the Congress completely ruled this out, House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel said during a hearing on the Venezuelan crisis on Wednesday.
Tensions in Venezuela severely escalated on January 23, when parliamentary speaker Juan Guaido declared himself interim president, rejecting Maduro’s re-election in May 2018. Guaido was shortly thereafter recognised by the United States and a number of Latin American and European states. Russia, China, Turkey and Mexico are among those nations that reaffirmed their support for Maduro as the country’s only legitimate president.
Maduro, in turn, blasted what he called a ‘coup’ being orchestrated by Washington. According to Maduro, Venezuelan opposition leaders "have acted against the interests of the Venezuelan people and caused damage to the state", and will at some point be brought to justice. They [opposition leaders] are puppets who serve the extremist administration of Donald Trump that wants to colonize Venezuela," the Venezuelan president told Al Mayadeen TV channel on Wednesday.