Venezuelan leader Nicolas Madura has warned the United States to stay out of the crisis in his country, but he does not have much to back up that stance, and a "credible" military threat from the United States would help sway Venezuela's military away from him, Rep. Adam Kinzinger said Wednesday.
"His hold on the military is tenuous at best," Kinzinger told Fox News' "America's Newsroom."
The only reason the military appears to support him in any way is because he is the only person giving them money. The reality is some of these rank and file soldiers make a couple bucks a month. They're begging for a food box from the military and they're worried about their family."
The military will likely change, though, if there is a backing point behind Juan Guaidó, the leader of the democratically elected Venezuelan National Assembly, who has named himself president, said Kinzinger.
He thinks a "credible" threat from the United States could sway them.
Kinzinger added that he gives President Donald Trump credit for his "clear-eyed assessment" on Venezuela and Sen. Marco Rubio, who "has been talking about this for a while."
The United States' current immigration crisis also can be linked to Venezuela and Central America, said Kinzinger.
"If you look at Colombia, they're hosting close to, I think 3 million refugees from the crisis in Venezuela," he said. "It is in our interest to ensure there is democracy in immigration crisis to our country right now because of the policies of those nations."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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