Trump Speaks at FIU

On Monday, February 28th, 2019 at 4 p.m. President Donald Trump visited Florida International University and gave a speech about the ongoing turmoil that is happening in Venezuela.

At the start of his speech, Trump addressed the United States’ decision to back the political rebel, Juan Guaidó, who is opposing the current President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro. Maduro has governed as the President of Venezuela since the death of President Hugo Chávez in 2013. Under the current president’s rule, the citizens of Venezuela have been suffering through increasing levels of poverty, oppression, and violence. In his speech, President Trump stated that the U.S. would be the first country to recognize Popular Will party member Guaidó as the rightful president of Venezuela.

Before President Trump’s speech, Senator Rick Scott is the one that kicked off the event. Then Senator Marco Rubio, Governor Ron DeSantis, and U.S National Security Adviser John Bolton spoke before the President was introduced by First Lady Melania Trump. All who were previously mentioned had different speeches but were able to get the same idea across: Maduro’s rule must end.

While Trump was giving his speech the words were not only meant to be heard by the citizens of the United States but also by all citizens of Venezuela. He honored the efforts of protesters who have seen the country’s corruption and who are still brave enough to speak against it. Since Guaidó’s attempt to replace Maduro, humanitarian relief has been blocked from reaching the Venezuelan people. Trump asked Maduro during his speech to let the U.S aid the citizens of the country with necessities like food, water, and toiletries.  During his speech, many people in the audience were wearing the colors of Venezuela and “Make America Great Again” hats. They were all supporting the main idea of his speech and they all want Venezuela to get under a better rule and rebuild from the damage their current government has caused. Everyone in the crowd was agreeing with what he was saying; they all want to help Venezuela.

The reason FIU was the chosen place for the speech is that it has the most Venezuelan natives that go there, and that live in Miami, Florida. Although his audience inside may have been supportive, outside where Trump was speaking there were a lot of protesters. They were not happy with his visit and disagreed with him being there. They protested that Venezuela should not be a main priority for the government, saying instead that the environment should be the main priority, and that they disagree on his stance regarding a wall on the Southern border.

Despite most of the people outside that disagreed about the speech, back on the inside, there were even people in the crowd representing different nations in support of Venezuela. These people were holding various flags of different countries like Cuba and Nicaragua, wanting the President to also direct his attention to those countries. Trump acknowledged these signs and stated that this nation was going to help them as well. Trump also stated that he caught a glimpse of the free future of these countries from the people of South Florida that moved from those places for a better life in America.

President Trump’s impactful speech made many people agree with the administration’s plan to address the turmoil not only in Venezuela but throughout Central and South America. A lot of people in Florida are from Venezuela and they are happy that someone is going to help their country and try to make it better. This effort hopefully won’t stop after Venezuela, seeing as President Trump wants to help and free other Latin countries from an unjust rule.