WASHINGTON \u2014 President Trump is taking \u201cthe last responsible steps\u201d to force Venezuelan strongman Nicol\u00e1s Maduro from power, Rep. Mar\u00eda Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) told The Post on Monday, warning that the embattled dictator may soon face \u201cPanama 2.0\u201d as US forces surround Venezuela.<\/p>\n
Salazar said Trump recently told Maduro directly that \u201cit\u2019s time for you to go,\u201d insisting the US is giving the socialist ruler one final chance to exit peacefully before considering stronger measures.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaduro promised President Biden he would leave if he lost the election<\/a> \u2014 and he lost 80-20,\u201d said Salazar, whose district is home to a Venezuelan immigrant community. \u201cBut communists and Marxists lie until they see a bigger force in front of them. Then they run.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Salazar, Maduro\u2019s hesitation isn\u2019t just about power \u2014 it\u2019s about survival.<\/p>\n Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) said Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro\u2019s days in power are numbered. TNS<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s afraid the Cuban military personnel \u2014 more than 30,000 on Venezuelan soil \u2014 will kill him if he tries to leave,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd he knows the Americans will take him out if he doesn\u2019t go.\u201d<\/p>\n Salazar praised Trump as the only president in 25 years \u2014 Republican or Democrat \u2014 willing to confront the Venezuelan regime head-on.<\/p>\n \u201cThe right thing is exactly what we\u2019re doing: invite him to leave, or take him out, just like we did in Panama,\u201d she said, calling the situation \u201cPanama No. 2<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n She argued the US has precedent for removing hostile foreign leaders when national security is at stake: She further said there could be a redo of 1989, when the US invaded Panama to oust then-de facto ruler\u00a0Manuel Noriega.<\/p>\n Venezuela\u2019s President Nicolas Maduro remains in office despite losing the country\u2019s past two elections. REUTERS<\/p>\n The congresswoman said Maduro is not just a political menace<\/a>, but a criminal one.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s the head of the Cartel of the Suns. He was indicted in 2020 for drug trafficking. He stole the election after promising free and fair elections,\u201d she said. \u201cHe\u2019s flooding the United States with drugs \u2014 sometimes even using submarines. Mother Teresa and her nuns are not on those boats.\u201d<\/p>\n Salazar dismissed any suggestion that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is pressing too hard for regime change.<\/p>\n \u201cRubio knows the hemisphere, just like I do,\u201d she said. \u201cHe understands what Venezuela represents for our national security.\u201d<\/p>\n She pointed to heavy recent US interdictions \u2014 including a Dominican military discovery of 2,000 kilos of drugs after a US strike \u2014 as proof of Maduro\u2019s sprawling criminal network.<\/a><\/p>\n With 11 Navy ships and roughly 15,000 troops now in the region, the congresswoman said months of failed diplomacy have given way to decisive action.<\/p>\n President Donald Trump shakes hands with Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar at the Congressional Picnic at the White House. Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cWe tried everything \u2014 every diplomatic angle,\u201d she said, citing previous efforts by Trump envoy Ric Grenell and later Rubio to negotiate Maduro\u2019s exit.<\/p>\n But diplomacy hasn\u2019t worked so far.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the beginning of the end,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are liberating the Western Hemisphere from the scourge of drug trafficking, communism, Marxism \u2014 people who do not love freedom, democracy and the free market.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve done this before \u2014 in Panama, in Libya \u2014 under presidents of both parties.\u201d<\/p>\n