Trump admin criticises issue which lasted for ‘nearly 7 years’ - and everyone’s said the same thing | indy100

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Reuters

If you’re going to criticise the past actions of previous US administrations, then it’s probably best you double-check who was in charge at the time.

One criticism from Donald Trump’s Department of State, shared on Thursday, has seen it ridiculed online given the problem itself has lasted for “nearly 7 years”, and the Republican was halfway through his first term back in 2019.

The tweet reads: “For nearly 7 years there have been no direct commercial flights between the U.S. and Venezuela.

“Under President Trump we’re changing that today. Flights between Miami and Caracas restored.”

And sure enough, many X/Twitter users were quick to point out that it was Trump who oversaw the initial decision:

“I wonder who was president 7 years ago,” wrote Francisco Rodríguez, of the Center for Economic and Policy Research:

Writer Eric Goldman tweeted: “Oh s***, sounds like whoever was president 7 years ago really f***ed things up!”:

And another account said: “You’ll never guess who was the president of the USA 7 years ago”:

At the time, CNN reported that the suspension of flights was approved by then secretary of state Mike Pompeo and implemented by then transportation secretary Elaine Chao.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement: “This determination is based on the ongoing political instability and increased tensions in Venezuela and associated inadvertent risk to flight operations.”

Meanwhile a State Department official told the outlet that all non-stop flights between the two countries were suspended on May 15 that year “due to security concerns”.

“As a result of the Maduro regime’s inability to govern and perpetuation of lawlessness, it is no longer possible to certify that Venezuela is meeting baseline standards of security,” they said.

Maduro, of course, referring to Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, who was ‘captured’ by the US and “flown out of the Country” in January, in a move which was met with international condemnation.

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