“I want to stand for freedom, but some of that stuff can be touchy,” Gov. DeSantis says of U.S. and Venezuela

Gov. Ron DeSantis is perhaps less gung-ho than U.S. Sen. Rick Scott about involving the U.S. military in the unstable political situation in Venezuela.

“What role our military plays? Look, I want to stand for freedom, but some of that stuff can be touchy,” the governor told reporters Wednesday.

“What I want to do (is) give whatever support we can but, obviously, we would want it to be where the population is decisively swinging behind Juan Guaidó,” and when a larger element of that country’s military “realizes that Maduro is not the way of the future.”

Scott issued a written statement Tuesday urging President Trump to prepare U.S. forces for at least humanitarian intervention.

“The U.S. military MUST be ready to supply humanitarian aid and defend freedom and democracy in Venezuela,” Scott said (all caps in the original).“President Trump should immediately position American military assets to be ready to deliver aid to the people and defend freedom and democracy as well as U.S. national security interests in our hemisphere,” he said.

National Security Advisor John Bolton has been briefing DeSantis – by telephone and in person — about developments in the hemisphere, including Venezuela. They last spoke Tuesday morning, as forces for and against President Nicolás Maduro clashed in the streets of Caracas.