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John Bolton met Thursday with the Miami Herald on Latin American politics at Miami's historic Freedom Tower, the Freedom Tower.
((Emily Michot / Miami Herald via AP))
National Security Advisor John Bolton on Thursday called Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua a "troika of tyranny" and announced new measures against socialist countries – promising that they "will feel the full weight" the solid US sanctions regime ".
Bolton told the Miami Dade College audience that, under President Trump, "we will no longer appease dictators and despots near our shores in this hemisphere".
"The troika of tyranny, this triangle of terror that stretches from Havana to Caracas until Managua, is the cause of immense human suffering, the impulse of a huge regional instability and the genesis of a sordid cradle of communism in the Western Hemisphere, "he said. .
The phrase phrase recalled the term "axis of evil" used by President George W. Bush to describe North Korea, Iran, and Iraq. Bolton served under Bush as ambassador of the United States.
During his speech, he announced new sanctions against Venezuela and Cuba, and declared that sanctions against Nicaragua would be applied "in the very near future". The government will ban Americans from participating in the Venezuelan gold export trade, while the state department more than two dozen entities owned or controlled by the Cuban military and services intelligence, as well as a list of entities with which Americans are prohibited from financial transactions.
Bolton used these remarks to distance the Trump government from the Obama administration's policies, under which former President Barack Obama reopened diplomatic relations with Cuba. Bolton promised that "the members of this administration will never take a photo in front of Che Guevara, stuck on the Cuban ministry that heads the revolutionary national police".
"What concerns us are the sanctions and not the selfies," he joked.
But he spared his anger for the leaders of the three socialist countries and predicted that the "troika" would "face his disappearance".
"These tyrants believe themselves to be strong and revolutionary men, icons and luminaries. In reality, they are pitiful and clown figures closer to Larry, Curly and Moe, "he said. "The three accomplices of socialism are true believers, but they worship a false God."
He also rejected the idea that oppressive governments were moving away from socialist principles.
"On the contrary, the Cuban, Venezuelan and Nicaraguan people suffer from misery because socialism is effectively applied," he said.
He hailed the elections of "like-minded leaders" in Colombia and Brazil – where right-wing candidate Jair Bolsonaro won the presidency of Brazil last week, as "positive signs for the region's future" "and signs of growing regional commitment. the principles of the free market and open government.
HALEY LAUNCHES THE FIRE OF RETURN WITHIN THE UN CONDEMNS THE EMBARGO OF CUBA: "WE WILL NOT RESELL"
Bolton's remarks coincided with a vote at the United Nations, where the General Assembly of that body voted to condemn the US embargo on Cuba.
"Our reason for the embargo is and has always been Cuba's denial of freedom and the denial of the most basic human rights of the Cuban people," said US Ambassador Nikki Haley. "The United States will continue to stand with the Cuban people until their rights and freedoms are restored. Period. We will not back down. "
Associated Press contributed to this report.
