When the Venezuelan coup attempt launched earlier Tuesday, the administration likely didn’t figure on having to justify its failure, when officials were loudly endorsing what they’d dubbed Operacion Libertad.



By evening, the operation had failed, however, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took to CNN to try to pin the blame on Russia and Cuba for meddling, while claiming the US was very close to getting the regime change it wanted.



“He had an airplane on the tarmac, he was ready to leave this morning as we understand it,” Pompeo said, claiming Russia called Maduro and convinced him to stay. He further claimed Maduro is “surrounded by Cubans.”



Pompeo added that he’s warned both Russia and Cuba that “it is unacceptable to starve people.” Though it seems the coup has failed at this point, Pompeo claimed it remains “incredible fluid,” and anything is liable to still happen.



Author: Jason Ditz Jason Ditz is news editor of Antiwar.com. View all posts by Jason Ditz