Venezuela: Vance disputes allegations of isolation and claims to be “very involved” with preparations

Venezuela: US Vice President JD Vance denied that he or Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard were left out of the planning for what he referred to as “the Venezuela operation,” saying he is “very involved” in the administration’s ongoing work on Venezuela and chairs regular meetings of White House principals.

Vance told reporters, “I’ve heard a couple of things,” in response to questions about whether top officials were excluded because of worries about military participation. The first is that I was excluded from the planning of the Venezuela operation, which is untrue; the second is that Tulsi was excluded from the planning of the Venezuela operation. That is absolutely untrue.

Vance said at a White House news conference that the government firmly controlled the planning of the operation. “We kept this operation secret for a very long time, and we kept it very tight to the senior cabinet-level officials and related officials in our government,” he said. “I’m really pleased with that.”

Vance described his future responsibilities in terms of President Donald Trump’s guidance. “I will do whatever the president asks me to do,” he said. However, he also spoke of a more regimented schedule for meetings and decision-making.

“I’m chairing the meeting that we do on this among White House principals to talk about next steps to try to ensure that Venezuela is stable every single day, or I should say every other day,” Vance said.

He went on to say that the government wants to influence Venezuela’s leadership’s conduct. “To make sure that the new Venezuelan government actually listens to the United States and does what the United States needs it to do in the best interest of our country,” Vance said, the president has instructed the team.

Vance said that internal collaboration was evident in the careful handling of planning, but he did not disclose practical specifics. He said, “I think it suggests that the team works very well together.”

In response to a query on worries in the Caribbean, he described the administration’s strategy as lowering unstable illegal income. He said that the United States continues “to talk at all levels of government with a number of our friends in the Caribbean region,” and that “the president had a very productive phone call with the president of Colombia yesterday.”

Vance said that the administration’s measures would lessen transnational criminal organizations’ influence. “You actually take away the power of one of the main destabilizing forces in Latin America and the Caribbean when you take away a major source of illegal cartel revenue, which is the cocaine, fentanyl, and other illicit revenue sources,” he added.

He described Trump’s approach as mostly peaceful. We repeat it often. Vance said, “This is the president of peace.” Making it obvious that the United States will be respected and that it is prepared to deprive criminal cartel organizations of their power and hand it over to legitimate governments is one method to bring about peace in your own hemisphere.

“So far, that’s been very involved,” Vance said, adding that he will continue to be involved “so long as the president asks me to be.”