Rep. Gabbard: Venezuela needs peaceful reconciliation, not military intervention
2020 Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard weigh in on the political unrest in Venezuela as demonstrations ramp up.
2020 presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, bashed the Trump administration Wednesday in a Fox News interview, accusing the White House of "saber-rattling" and saying the U.S. should work with Russia to avoid a potential nuclear conflict over Venezuela.
"Any time we are in this situation where you have tensions being ratcheted up and this conflict being pushed closer and closer between nuclear-armed countries like the United States and countries like Russia and China, this is something that poses an existential threat to the American people," Gabbard said on "The Story with Martha MacCallum."
"And, when you hear this kind of saber-rattling coming from the Trump administration from people like [National Security Adviser] John Bolton and [Secretary of State] Mike Pompeo, pushing this civil war and for the United States to get involved, we are dealing with dangerous consequences."
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Violence erupted in Venezuela between protesters and military forces again Wednesday as both the country's disputed president, Nicolas Maduro, and opposition leader, Juan Guaido, vied for power.
Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Caracas as part of a rebellion that has represented the most serious challenge to Maduro's rule.
I have seen firsthand the high cost of war and pushing for this civil war, pushing for the use of military force, will only end up with more suffering and death and disaster for the Venezuelan people.
Gabbard argued that interfering in regime change would not have a "positive impact" on the people of Venezuela.
"The United States is not helping the situation by interfering and basically pushing for externally yet another regime change war that history shows us has not turned out to have a positive impact on people in the countries where we wage these wars. That's why I'm pushing for diplomacy," Gabbard told Martha MacCallum.
The Hawaii congresswoman also cited America's history with overthrowing governments and dictators saying that brokering a diplomatic solution with Russia would have a better outcome.
Pompeo on Tuesday told Fox News that Maduro was ready to leave Venezuela as unrest grew -- until Russia convinced him to stay.
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"I'm saying that when we look throughout history, every time the United States goes into another country, and topples a dictator or topples a government the outcome has been disastrous for the people in these countries," Gabbard said.
"That's why we should use our leadership in the world to try to broker a diplomatic solution working with countries like Russia that have great influence over Venezuela so that there is a peaceful outcome -- because I can tell you as a soldier, Martha, I have seen firsthand the high cost of war and pushing for this civil war, pushing for the use of military force, will only end up with more suffering and death and disaster for the Venezuelan people."
Fox News' Nicole Darrah and Martha MacCallum contributed to this report.