They're actually begging for another Benghazi
by digby
The US is refusing to withdraw its diplomats from Venezuela, apparently using them as some kind of hostage to its and several other countries' decision to recognize the opposition leader as the president. The Maduro government wants them out. There are massive protests and violence in the streets. Both sides are in a very tense and desperate situation.
What could go wrong?
Here's Marco Rubio making what I found to be a chilling statement on the matter:
Andrea Mitchell: What about the safety of our embassy employees and staff? How secure are they given the threats by Maduro?
Rubio: We expect them to be treated like any diplomats are. And that is to be respected. Their job is to have a relationship with the government of Venezuela, the constitutional government of Venezuela as recognized by over 15 countries around the world and the OAS, is the Guaidó government, and obviously, we are going to interact with them. I would say two things. We are always going constantly going to be watching to see that none of our people abroad are in a dangerous situation. We pulled people out of Havana because we didn't know how to protect them from these mysterious attacks that left many of them deeply injured.
But I will say this. It's not for me to make announcements or even openly speculate. These are decisions made by the president. But if any harm should come to these diplomats, I want everybody to know the consequences, I believe, from this administration that they'll impose will be swift and decisive I know this for a certainty and this message needs to be clear.
For good or for --- I know a lot of people don't like him I work with him on a lot of issues, disagree with him on some, but the one thing I'll say about this president is that he does things other presidents didn't do and wouldn't do and I think we've seen some of that decisiveness here, for good, in the case of Venezuela. And I also think they deserve credit because the US is not doing some unilateral action, we are working through multilateral international organizations, the OAS has been reinvigorated. The reason this coalition has held together is because the administration has not gone further, has not fractured as a result
Mitchell: How can you be sure that our embassy staff is secure? Can we evacuate them if necessary?
Rubio: There's no doubt that we have the capability to do so. We have strong allies in Brazil and Colombia and others but I'm not going to get into tactical details.
Recall that these Republicans spent years hammering on the Obama administration and in particular Hillary Clinton for failing to protect the embassy personnel in Benghazi.
I can't believe what I'm seeing.
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