The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States, Dan Caine, the highest-ranking military officer of the North American country’s Armed Forces, has made a surprise visit to the capital of Venezuela, Caracas, to hold meetings with the authorities, in his first visit after the military attack launched in early January, which resulted in more than a hundred deaths and the capture of the then Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores.
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The spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Joe Holstead, has indicated that Caine participated in “bilateral discussions” with “senior officials of the interim government” and with workers from the United States Embassy in Caracas, in addition to visiting the Marine Corps Security Reinforcement Unit of the diplomatic legation.
Thus, he explained that “Caine underscored the importance of Venezuela’s stability and shared security in the Western Hemisphere, as well as the Joint Force’s commitment to ensuring the implementation of the three-phase plan” presented by US President Donald Trump.
The three phases of the aforementioned plan were unveiled by Washington days after the capture of Maduro and his transfer to United States territory, and involve the “stabilization” of the South American country, a process of “recovery” – with access for US and other companies – and “reconciliation,” and a political “transition.”
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“The United States is committed to a stable, prosperous, and democratic Venezuela, aligned with the United States,” Holstead concluded after Caine’s visit, which comes days after the head of the United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), Francis Donovan, made two trips to Venezuela to hold meetings, including one on May 23.
Maduro’s capture led the then vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, to assume the position of acting president, since which time the United States has reduced its sanctions on Caracas, which has implemented several reforms, a government reshuffle, and proceeded to release hundreds of prisoners.
However, Caine has not met with Rodríguez during his visit, given that the president began a trip to India early Wednesday, in what is her first official trip abroad since assuming the aforementioned position, from which she has defended the need for Maduro to be released and has promised to work to stabilize the situation in Venezuela.
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