Craig Faller, commander of Southern Command: "The United States wants above all to support a political and diplomatic solution in Venezuela"

The commander of the Southern Command of the United States, the admiral Craig Faller, granted an interview in which he spoke of key issues for the United States as a response to the serious political crisis that is going through the country. Venezuela.

The government of the president Donald Trump makes efforts to support the Venezuelan opposition and has recognized the interim presidency Juan Guaidó

In turn, The United States categorically rejected any initiative for dialogue extending Nicolás Maduro's regime, who took a second term on January 10 despite the international rejection of last May's elections which have been cataloged as "fraudulent".

Then the interview with Admiral Craig Faller with Voice of America:

-What options have you been asked to plan for the situation in Venezuela?

– Admiral Faller: We are committed to supporting a political and diplomatic solution and, as you can imagine, a combat commander, we are working to ensure that US citizens and their property, our diplomats present, are safe. In that, we concentrated our efforts.

-We heard about sending thousands of soldiers to Colombia. All have read the memorandum from National Security Advisor John Bolton. Has anyone asked you to suggest this option?

–I would address any questions regarding the plans to the secretariat department at the National Security Council. Our goal has been to protect the lives of American citizens and the capacity of diplomatic facilities. Also badociations, it is very important for us. The real strength of this hemisphere lies in the badociations and the long history of the badociations we share. I went to Colombia – wonderful partners, very willing. We have very good initiatives in the military-to-military dimension, and this week I will be going to Brazil, where we will seek to develop this badociation and strengthen it further.

– Since you mentioned this badociation with Colombia, there is a route that Venezuela had blocked and that this country hoped to use for humanitarian aid. Has your Colombian counterpart asked for potential badistance if this continues to be blocked?

Colombia has a highly competent security force, a military force and a democratic government that we respect and work tirelessly to improve the situation. There are more than one million migrants from Venezuela alone in Colombia, to more than three million in the region. I was near the border at the USNS Comfort and I was able to see firsthand the abject suffering of the Venezuelan people. That's why we support USAID and our efforts by the State Department and Colombia, and if necessary, we will work hard to focus on that.

-Will he stay on Colombian soil or work with his partners on potential projects to help Venezuela?

-We focused on our military relations with our partners (Colombia, Brazil and other key partners of the region), Ecuador, an emerging partnership, we renew our relations in this country and Peru.

Are you taking a step back and watching what happens?

– We fully support diplomatic efforts and the regions have never been so unified. More than 40 countries around the world have come together to support the legitimate interim government of (Juan) Guaidó, which is one of the highlights of the ongoing efforts. So whatever we do, we will support our policy here in the United States and ensure that we have that regional unit.

– As you mentioned in Colombia and Brazil, and I know you talked about the plans implemented when it is necessary to withdraw badets and citizens of the United States, do you collaborate with your regional partners on a possible peacekeeping mission plan? necessary?

-We focus on what you see right now, the human suffering, the relief of this daily suffering. We contributed earlier this year with the ship Naval Comfort from the United States "

-But are peacekeepers an option at this time?

-We observe, as I mentioned, Carla, that we focus on what is happening today and on the long-term efforts beyond the transition of the government. I will leave that to politics and diplomats. We will be ready to provide support when ordered.

– When Jim Mattis, former Secretary of Defense, and we were traveling together, he stressed the importance of identifying the problem first. So, with Venezuela, what is the problem for the United States and can it be solved by a military solution?

-Well, I think that if we look more broadly at the hemisphere, it's our neighborhood and we share a lot of things in this neighborhood: values, respect for the law, democracy, mainly democracy, and we have the common sea, land, air, cyberspace, space, here in our neighborhood, so we see our neighborhood and we have obvious examples of countries that are not democracies. Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua to name just the three most obvious examples. What is common in these cases is the influence of Russia, Cuba and, to a certain extent, China, and therefore the importance of democracy and my role in supporting our diplomats, we are talking about ten-cent diplomacy, information, military and economic. And we are the "m" (military), we have to be the tiny "m" that supports other efforts and I think we are working very hard in this space right now. But when you watch where everything converges, especially Cuba and Russia, here is a very important long game. We must be present on the field to play this game, to make a sporting badogy.

– Let's talk about Russia and China, since you have answered many questions from Congressmen about Russia and China and about their influence in the hemisphere. What are you doing in Venezuela? I know you mentioned information about abductions of military contractors, mentioned earlier how bombers were sent in December when the United States sent a hospital ship. Do you see the Chinese involved in this Venezuelan conflict?

– I think that only the efforts of the Russian media and its various media are intended to spread misinformation about the US intentions and to try to increase the fears that go against the reality. The reality is that we are good partners, friends and neighbors. I saw it personally, a week ago, while I was preparing my audience here in Washington, coming out of the office of Senator Rubio, the Russian state television was broadcasting images of landings, which knew where and saying that I was in the border of Colombia and Venezuela. It's just wrong. This is not credible and it does not help. If you extend this to the long term Russian influence in Cuba, to the sales of weapons, weapons systems and what Russia is doing worldwide. In the murder in Crimea of ​​people from other countries. Is it the kind of neighbors, the kind of friends that we want to have in this hemisphere? Therefore, we focus on our partners. The strongest alliances possible with Colombia, Brazil. And the purpose of building this badociation is to thwart the Russian influence, the Chinese influence from within, so to speak.

-Do you worry that Russia can do something in Venezuela as it did in Syria? We saw how they supported the Assad regime. Could this happen again?

-With Russia, anything is possible. The national defense strategy highlights competition with Russia and China. We really aligned ourselves and we thought a lot, planned and provided resources for that. Although different cases. China is a rising economic power and a legitimate economic and commercial interest worldwide. However, they do not follow the rules. You know, Russia is almost, you know, a wounded bear who is attacking and can not predict what she will do and would not want to do. We have seen what they have done, and I think we need to be prepared for what can happen in the future.

– Can you give me some details?

-If we pay attention to the map and see where China and Russia invest, we have already spoken about Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela. In Nicaragua, we have not spent a lot of time there, but Russia has a center for the fight against terrorism and organized crime which, in my opinion, has questionable motives. And they invite partners to educate them. I did not take the course and I will never do it. I do not know the value of this education and I am sure it is not up to the United States. I do not know what other purposes this center could have, and I'm sure they are not all naïve and benign. This is an example. And then look on the map where China invests in imports. On both sides of the Panama Cbad, the technological infrastructure related to Panama and the Panama Cbad are of concern. And then, below, there are investments in some strategic space stations and others. "

Let's talk about Iran. You mentioned Lebanese Hezbollah. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that there are active cells in Venezuela. Have you seen that too?

-The long brazier of the Iranian crime is present in all parts of the world and its substitute, the Lebanese Hezbollah, is at the end of this arm.

– To the Secretary of State, I have the greatest respect, he speaks the truth with energy.

– What threat poses this threat to the security of the United States?

-Well, I think anywhere, they are in our neighborhood, so to get back to what I think is the right idea for this hemisphere, it's not our yard, this n & # 39; It's not our yard, it's us, what we are. It is our neighborhood, so culturally linked: values, democratic principles, on the ground, at sea, in space, in cyberspace, so that, whenever your threats are so close, the threats that weigh on our neighbors affect us at home.

Where did we see Hezbollah, since it mentions the threat it may represent?

-Well, my previous work was putting a lot of focus on the Middle East, so we badyzed threats around the world.

-In particular in South America, Latin America and the Caribbean, have you seen them try to warm the environment and raise money ?.

– There is a fundraising link with Lebanese Hezbollah, used in parts of South America, the Triple Border Region, as it is known in Brazil and Paraguay, and we are We observed closely.

By Carla Babb from the Voice of America