Venezuela’s\nsecond-most powerful man has sent his children to China amid the possibility\nPresident Nicol\u00e1s Maduro’s government will crumble. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Diosdado\nCabello, leader of Venezuela’s National Constituent Assembly (ANC), whisked his\ndaughter and his youngest son off on a plane to Shanghai over the weekend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\nimmediately raised suspicions because his wife’s surname – Contreras – was on\nthe boarding passes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Daniella\nCabello, 22, boarded the plane with a US-issued passport as Desiree (her middle\nname) Contreras while his son Tito Cabello, 17, used a Ugandan passport and\nused the name Tito Contreras. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\nrecent days, it has been reported that several Maduro loyalists successfully\narranged to have their immediate family members flee what once was considered\none of the most economically powerful countries in South America. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\npolitician has three children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\nMay 2018, the United States Department of Treasury issued sanctions against\nCabello. A fortune of at least $800 million belonging to the Diosdado Cabello\nwas either confiscated or frozen, according to the Miami Herald.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ticketing\nreceipts posted to social media confirmed the politician’s children hopped on a\nFriday afternoon flight in Havana before making a short stop in Moscow on\nSaturday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After\na nearly two-hour layover, the siblings headed off to Beijing where they landed\nshortly after midnight Sunday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A\nsearch on Russian airline Aeroflot showed that Daniella and Tito Cabello then\ngot on a Beijing to Shanghai flight at 10:40am local time and touched down a\n1pm local time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nreservation system indicates they’re both scheduled to return to Havana on a\none-stop flight March 12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Daniella\nCabello, who was deported from the U.S. in June 2018 after she tried to enter\nthe country, has become a celebrity on social media and is dating Venezuelan\nsinger Omar Acedo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Their\ndestination choice was not a coincidence since China – and Russia – have been\nloyal supporters of the Maduro regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On\nMonday, the Chinese foreign ministry declared it is opposed any interference by\noutside parties, a clear reference to the United States, Colombia, Brazil and\nalmost 50 countries that don’t recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China\nurged the ruling and opposition party, led by self-proclaimed interim president\nJuan Guaid\u00f3, to iron out their differences at the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Venezuela\nwas marred by clashes this weekend after the National Guard and police forces\nloyal to Maduro blocked trucks from crossing near the Brazilian and Colombian\nborders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
According\nto foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang, China is strictly against ‘using the\nso-called humanitarian aid to serve political ends and stir up instability and\neven turmoil in Venezuela and its neighborhood, which is not in the interests\nof any party.’ <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nTrump administration on Monday announced new sanctions on allies of Venezuela’s\nNicolas Maduro as it struggles to find new ways to boost his opponent Juan\nGuaido after an effort to deliver humanitarian aid to the economically\ndevastated nation faltered amid strong resistance from security forces who\nremain loyal to the socialist leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vice\nPresident Mike Pence arrived in the Colombian capital for an emergency summit\nof regional leaders to discuss the deepening crisis and immediately met with\nGuaido, who the U.S. and 50 other nations recognize as Venezuela’s rightful\nleader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\na speech to the group, Pence urged regional partners to freeze oil assets\ncontrolled by Maduro, transfer the proceeds to Guaido and restrict visas for\nMaduro’s inner circle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\nsaid the U.S. was imposing more sanctions on four pro-government governors,\nincluding a close Maduro ally who negotiated the release of an American in jail\nmore than two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
‘It’s\ntime to do more,’ said Pence. ‘The day is coming soon when Venezuela’s long\nnightmare will end, when Venezuela will once more be free, when her people will\nsee a new birth of freedom, in a nation reborn to libertad.’ <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pence’s\nappearance before the Lima Group comes at an important crossroads for the\ncoalition of 14 mostly conservative Latin American nations and Canada that has\njoined forces to pressure Maduro. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A\nmonth after Guaido declared himself interim president at an outdoor rally,\nhopes that support for Maduro inside the military would quickly crumble have\nfaded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over\nthe weekend, security forces on the borders with Colombia and Brazil fired tear\ngas and buckshot on activists waving Venezuelan flags while escorting trucks\nwith emergency medical and food kits. Four people have been reported killed and\nat least 300 wounded, although only a few were hospitalized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While\nColombian authorities said more than 160 soldiers deserted their posts and\nsought refuge across the border over the weekend, the highest-ranking among\nthem was a National Guard major. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
No\nbattalion or division commanders have come forward to challenge Maduro despite\nalmost-daily calls by Guaido and the U.S. to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That’s\nleft many asking what Guaido and the U.S. can do to break the stalemate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For\nnow, the U.S. is showing no signs it is considering a military intervention to\nremove Maduro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During\nhis visit, Pence repeated President Donald Trump’s threat that ‘all options are\non the table’ but gingerly avoided talking about the potential for military\naction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead,\nhe stuck to traditional policy tools that so far have only hardened Maduro’s\nresolve. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Foremost\namong them was the addition of four governors to a growing list of more than 50\nVenezuelan officials under sanctions and blocked from doing business or having\naccounts in the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nmost prominent target was Rafael Lacava, the governor of central Carabobo state\nwho played a key role negotiating the release last year of Joshua Holt, a Utah\nman who traveled to the South American country for love and ended up in jail,\nwithout a trial, for two years on what were seen as trumped-up weapons charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pence\nalso said the U.S. would continue to search for places to pre-position aid for\neventual delivery to Venezuela, and announced $56 million in new assistance to\ncountries in the region helping to absorb an exodus of more than 3 million\nVenezuelans who have fled hyperinflation and shortages in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
‘In\nthe days ahead, the United States will announce even stronger sanctions on the\nregime’s corrupt financial networks. We will find every last dollar they have\nstolen and return that money to the Venezuelan people,’ he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Guaido,\nin his visit to the Colombian capital, was afforded all the trappings of a head\nof state. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\nposed for selfies with well-wishers upon arriving for the summit and stood\nbefore a pile of aid boxes stamped with the U.S. flag as he and Pence greeted a\ngroup of Venezuelan migrants, one of whom, an elderly man, wept as he shook\nhands with the U.S. vice president and pleaded for help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But\nhis speech to the diplomats was short on specifics despite speculation he would\nrequest a military intervention as a close ally, Julio Borges, the opposition\nambassador to the Lima Group, suggested on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
‘Being\npermissive with the usurpation of power would be a threat to democracy in all\nof America,’ he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile,\nseveral Latin American leaders who have been staunchly behind Guaido also\nrejected the use of force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
‘Let’s\nhope that the pressure of the international community, dialogue and prudence\nwill prevail,’ said Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela, who likened the\ncrisis in Venezuela to what his country faced in the run up to the 1989 U.S.\ninvasion to remove dictator Manuel Noriega. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
‘Although\nthe circumstances are similar, we must have the capacity to find a solution\ndifferent than the one used back then.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Secretary\nof State Mike Pompeo, in interviews on ‘Fox News Sunday’ and CNN’s ‘State of\nthe Union,’ did not rule out U.S. military force but said ‘there are more\nsanctions to be had.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any\nadditional sanctions will increase the suffering of the Venezuelan people and\nmay lead to more political violence, said Mark Weisbrot, the co-director of the\nCenter for Economic and Policy Research, who advocates a negotiated end to the\npolitical crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
‘The ‘humanitarian aid’ this weekend was a public relations stunt, since the aid was just a tiny fraction of the food and medicine that they are depriving Venezuelans of with the sanctions,’ Weisbrot said. ‘As the Trump administration admitted, it was an attempt to get the Venezuelan military to disobey Maduro. It was a farce, and it failed.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Daily Mail<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Venezuela’s second-most powerful man has sent his children to China amid the possibility President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro’s government will crumble. Diosdado Cabello, leader of Venezuela’s National Constituent Assembly (ANC), whisked his daughter and his youngest son off on a plane to Shanghai over the weekend. It immediately raised suspicions because his wife’s surname – Contreras – […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27983,"featured_media":8374,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_paywall_metabox":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[161],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n