QUESTION: Mr. Pompeo, thank you for your time. You’re visiting Chile, Paraguay, Peru, and Colombia to reinforce commitment to democracy and human rights in Venezuela, and you have said that every option is on the table. Military intervention – is it still an option?

SECRETARY POMPEO: President Trump’s been unambiguous. The United States stands squarely behind the Venezuelan people. We will restore democracy. We will protect the human rights. We’ve done so with political tools, our diplomatic tools; we’ve provided hundreds of metric tons of food that, sadly, we’ve not been able to get in. And every single tool, every single option remains on the table.

QUESTION: So the answer is yes?

SECRETARY POMPEO: The answer is yes.

QUESTION: And this is a option even when the Lima Group, including Chile, reject the military option? Are you able to hold that military option even if you don’t have the support from other countries of the region?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Look, I’m here today to talk about how it is we’re going to achieve a diplomatic solution here, how we’re going to support the OAS, the Lima Group countries like Brazil, Peru, here in Chile to support our collective efforts to ensure that Nicolas Maduro cannot continue to kill and starve his people. That’s our mission set. We’ve made no bones about our commitment. We’re going to be here until this work is done and our efforts – our efforts to build out what is now a 54-nation coalition that understands Juan Guaido is the proper leader of his country. And we’ll be with him today, we’ll be with him the day that Maduro leaves, and we’ll be with him in the days thereafter to begin to rebuild Venezuela.

QUESTION: Venezuela is backed by China and Russia. Do you think that the support of China and Russia to Venezuela makes Maduro’s exit more complex or even an impossible task?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Not impossible, but it makes it more difficult, there’s no doubt. I think the Russian interference – you were talking a minute ago about America intervening. Well, Russia intervened. Russia intervened. They went against the leadership of the country of Venezuela. They intervened without authority. They don’t have the consent of the Venezuelan people to be there. They’re there as a hostile power. Juan Guaido is the duly elected leader. They came in to support Nicolas Maduro, who today is the former leader of Venezuela. So it’s quite hypocrisy when nations like those in the OAS and Lima Group get accused of intervening in Venezuela when the Russians have troops on the ground, and more importantly, when you really have a state that was turned over as a security matter to the Cubans long ago.

QUESTION: Admiral Craig Faller, who leads the U.S. Southern Command, said the military is awaiting instructions from the Trump administration on military intervention in Venezuela. He said, “The crisis in Venezuela could approach that degree by the end of this year if Maduro still remains in power.” It is true? Is this year, the end of this year the deadline for Maduro for you?

SECRETARY POMPEO: I hope it’s much sooner than that. I hope that Maduro while we’re sitting here has made the decision to do the right thing for the Venezuelan people. It’s unlikely. He’s never done that before, but my hope is that the – all the array of opposition to Maduro, all those leaders who were talking to the United States of America looking for a plane ticket and a passport someplace out – I hope that those leaders will all take us up on those offers. They will leave, and they will allow the Venezuelans to vote for their next leader, to have a democracy, and then get the economic support they need to rebuild what Maduro has destroyed over the past years.

QUESTION: Mr. Pompeo, you’re willing hold that military option even who you don’t have the support of the United Nations Security Council?

SECRETARY POMPEO: We – I don’t know how many times I can answer this question. We’ve made clear our goal is to convince Maduro it is time to leave. We’re going to leave every option on the table to use to achieve that objective.

QUESTION: Even if you don’t have the support of the UN —

SECRETARY POMPEO: I’ve answered —

QUESTION: — and the Security Council?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Ma’am, I’ve answered your question.

QUESTION: Like Iraq?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Ma’am, I don’t understand your question. Like Iraq what?

QUESTION: If you don’t have the support of Security Council. That’s the question.

SECRETARY POMPEO: I don’t understand your question. We – our commitment is very, very clear.

QUESTION: You can hold the military option even if you don’t have the support —

SECRETARY POMPEO: Ma’am, our position is very clear. I’ve answered it now four times for you, and I appreciate that you’ve asked it seven times. Answered this question four times for you. Our work is diligent to find a diplomatic, political resolution to save the people from Venezuela from the Cubans, the Russians, and this tyrant Nicolas Maduro, period, full stop.

QUESTION: I want to ask you about what do you think about Julian Assange prison detention in London? What’s the position of the United States about that?

SECRETARY POMPEO: So there’s an active case in litigation. I don’t have anything in particular that I can add about that. Suffice it to say America is always happy, as I think the people of Chile are happy, when those who have stolen information and put the lives of soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines at risk are being brought to justice. We had Americans serving abroad whose information was stolen and then put into the public. That puts our people at risk. That’s not right. That’s not journalism. And I hope that anyone who engages in activity is held accountable.

QUESTION: I ask you because three years ago the President Trump said that he loved WikiLeaks.

SECRETARY POMPEO: I think we all understand this stolen information put Americans at risk. I’m confident the President of the United States, who has done more to keep America secure than any president in years, understands that too.

QUESTION: So do you think Assange’s arrest a threat to the free press like some people say?

SECRETARY POMPEO: I don’t have anything to comment about that case in particular. There’s active litigation taking place there, so unfortunately, I’m not able to comment on that.

QUESTION: Okay. Thank you very much, Mr. Pompeo.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you.

QUESTION: Thank you for the interview.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you.

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Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo will travel to Dallas and College Station, Texas, April 14–15.

In Dallas, April 15, the Secretary will meet with members of the Iranian-American diaspora community. He will solicit their thoughts and discuss issues pertaining to U.S. policy on Iran.

In College Station, April 15, he will deliver remarks at Texas A&M University as part of the Wiley Lecture Series. His remarks will highlight the impact of diplomacy on daily life and make the case to students that a career at the State Department is a powerful way to serve America. The Secretary also will visit the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum.

Stay connected at https://blogs.state.gov/engage, and keep track of all of the Secretary’s travels at https://www.state.gov/secretary/travel/index.htm

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QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary, thank you for your time with CNN Chile.

SECRETARY POMPEO:  It’s wonderful to be with you.

QUESTION:  Regarding to Venezuela, it has been three months since Juan Guaido is president in charge.  We are in another stage.  Why are you coming here now in South America 72 hours before the meeting of Grupo de Lima?

SECRETARY POMPEO:  So I came to Chile for a number of reasons, one of which was to talk about the challenge in Venezuela, how it is that together Chile, Brazil, Peru, the OAS, the Lima Group, all of us working together can get what the Venezuelan people so richly deserve: their democracy and off of the place they are today, under the thumb of the Cubans and the Russians and the Maduro regime.

I came also to talk about the important partnership between our two countries, the economic activity, the security activity that the United States and Chile conduct together.  It was wonderful to be with President Pinera and my foreign minister counterpart as well.

QUESTION:  And what did you come to ask for Chile specifically in relation with Venezuela?

SECRETARY POMPEO:  So with respect to Venezuela, it was a thank you as much as anything else, but also we wanted to look each other in the eye and verify we’re going to stay the course.  This is an important mission that matters to the region, it matters to the United States, but most importantly, it matters to the Venezuelan people.  And so we wanted to have a conversation about what are the things we could do, how can we continue to grow this coalition.  Over 50 countries today have said that, no, Maduro, you’re not the leader; Juan Guaido is the duly elected leader.  We’ll build out that coalition and we’ll continue to isolate Maduro until such time as the Venezuelan people get what they deserve.

QUESTION:  But there are 195 countries.

SECRETARY POMPEO:  Yep.

QUESTION:  Only 54 support your plan?

SECRETARY POMPEO:  So far only 54 have come across the line and gotten it right and spoken the truth about what Venezuela so richly deserves.  But you should know that those months ago that you describe, there were none.  This is an amazing coalition that’s been put together.  I wish that the Russians and the Chinese would stop interfering.  It’s kind of funny.  They accuse the Americans and the Chileans of intervening when, in fact, they have soldiers on the ground; when in fact, the Cubans are running the security state apparatus inside of Venezuela.  I think the Venezuelan people know that’s wrong.  I think the people of the world know that that’s a tragedy.  The Cubans need to go home.

QUESTION:  Concerning Chile’s President Pinera, such a good political partner of the U.S., as President Bolsonaro is? 

SECRETARY POMPEO:  They’re both great friends of the United States.  They are both leading democratic institutions, trying to do all they can to serve their people, to grow their own markets, their own economy, to provide security for their own people.  They’re both fantastic partners.

QUESTION:  You have said recently it seems that the support of Russia, China, Cuba, Iran has been strong enough to support Maduro.  Is the U.S. plan not working?

SECRETARY POMPEO:  We’re being incredibly successful.  Take a look at the nations that you just identified.  Look who those are.  Look at the democratic values that are on the other side of that, right?  Russia, no democratic values; China; Iran, killing hundreds of Americans and conducting terror campaigns all around the world, right?  Hizballah here in South America fomenting terror.  I am convinced that the people of South America understand who shares their values, who their friends are.  And that – that value set, that common understanding about the right way to move forward – will lead us to the outcome that the Venezuelan people deserve.  I am very convinced of that. 

QUESTION:  A few days ago you said Maduro is a threat for the U.S., and some time ago President Trump has said that all options are on the table.  Are you asking for support in a potential military intervention in Venezuela?

SECRETARY POMPEO:  Both of those statements are true.  Maduro is definitely a threat to the United States of America.  I went through the list of ways, I think, when I gave that answer.  I won’t go through them now.  But the list is long about how it affects American lives, and the President has been unambiguous.  We’re going to use every tool in the American toolkit.  I’m here; I’m America’s most senior diplomat.  I’m here today to figure out how we can get a political resolution that is the right outcome.  But make no mistake about it:  The United States refuses[1] to take any tool within our capacity to deliver democracy for the Venezuelan people. 

QUESTION:  Militarism?

SECRETARY POMPEO:  Every option. 

QUESTION:  It wasn’t the first time for the U.S. to be involved in removing a leader in this region, but this time the region seems to be with the U.S. 

SECRETARY POMPEO:  In some ways the region is out in front of us.  It’s remarkable to watch countries from Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina – it’s remarkable to see the nations of the region group together yesterday – Jamaica voted with us at the OAS to recognize Juan Guaido’s designee as the proper representative inside of the OAS. 

Yeah, this is a global coalition designed – not designed to overthrow Maduro.  That’s the outcome.  What it’s designed to do is restore the democracy that the Venezuelan people are demanding.  Maduro has to go.  It is not possible.  He has destroyed this country for years and years and years.  He has caused more hunger, more starvation, more deprivation in that country than any previous leader in Venezuela, so he’ll have to leave.  But our goal is more than that.  Our goal is to make sure that democracy is restored to that great nation. 

QUESTION:  Chile will host the climate change conference in December.  Does the U.S. Government still have doubts about the climate change?

SECRETARY POMPEO:  The United States believes that the best solution to keeping every human being healthy are free markets, transparent rule of law, and economic success.  The nations that are the safest, that have the cleanest air and the safest drinking water, are those that have the rule of law and democracy. 

We’ve watched what’s happened.  We’ve watched nations that are part of the Paris agreement continue to spew carbon – indeed, more carbon than they were before.  We live in the real world in the United States.  President Trump is a realist.  It’s one thing to sign a piece of paper to make a commitment to reduce CO2.  It’s another thing to actually do it.  We are convinced the United States will lead.  Our innovation, our technology, is unequaled.  And we’re convinced that when we do that and do it well, that we’ll still have clean air and safe drinking water for generations to come. 

QUESTION:  Chile is interested in enacting the 5G in Chile.  President Pinera goes to China in a few days.  Would the U.S. be concerned if Pinera accepted invitation to visit the Huawei plant in China?

SECRETARY POMPEO:  He is the president of a sovereign nation.  He gets to make decisions about who he sees or where he travels.  What we talked about today and what we’ve said publicly is that Huawei is controlled by the Government of China.  It is deeply connected.  And so putting one’s citizens’ information on that kind of technology, on that Chinese infrastructure, presents real risk to the citizens of your country.  And so we have urged nations to check it out, to see if we’re right – we know that we are – and then make good decisions for themselves. 

And we have secondarily told them that, boy, if we’re going to share information with you, Americans’ information, or if we’re going to work on security projects with you, we don’t have confidence in those systems; and so if you put those systems, if you put systems that aren’t trusted, untrusted systems inside your network, it will force the United States to make decisions about where we put our information as well.

QUESTION:  Thank you, Mr. Pompeo — 

SECRETARY POMPEO:  Thank you.

QUESTION:  — for this time with CNN Chile.

SECRETARY POMPEO:  Thank you, ma’am. 

_____

[1] The United states is not refusing to take any tool within our capacity…

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QUESTION: Joining me now from Santiago, Chile to discuss this and much, much more is the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Mr. Secretary, thanks so much for being here. I know that you want to talk about the International Criminal Court, and I’ll get to that in one second.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Jake, it’s great to be – it’s great to be with you, Jake.

QUESTION: Thank you so much, sir. I know you weren’t present for the conversation between the President and Commissioner McAleenan, but would you note – or what do you say to senior administration officials when they say to you: Boy, President Trump is so frustrated by these immigration laws, he doesn’t seem to understand that we have to adhere to them even if he doesn’t like them?

SECRETARY POMPEO: I’ve been in lots of conversations on the enormous crisis at our border, and I’ve watched this President try to use every tool in our toolkit. We’ve done everything that we can. We’ve stayed within the law. We need Congress to make changes to that so that we can stop this humanitarian and security crisis. And every meeting I’ve been in has been very focused on that.

QUESTION: The President today admitted that he’s considering trying to move undocumented migrants to sanctuary cities, and he seemed to acknowledge this is for political reasons, to retaliate against Democrats. Why do you think that’s the right policy, if you do, in fact?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Jake, I’m here in Santiago, Chile. I came on to talk with you today about an enormously important decision that helped keep Americans safe. Outside the threat that our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines, who have protected America for years, are now, because of the policies of the Trump administration undertaken, no longer are threatened by a rogue court, the International Criminal Court. That’s my focus for this morning, and it’s what I hope we get a chance to talk about today.

QUESTION: All right. Let me turn to that question and then I’ll come back to a couple others that I have. The International Criminal Court today said that they will not investigate the U.S. for allegations of alleged war crimes in Afghanistan. Amnesty International said this was a quote, “craven capitulation to Washington’s bullying and threats, and an abandonment of the victims.” Why do you disagree with Amnesty International? If somebody committed a war crime, why should they not be held responsible? I should note that this isn’t just about Americans, it’s also about Afghans as well.

SECRETARY POMPEO: That’s exactly right, Jake, it’s about a much broader people. Let’s be very clear, though, with respect to America in particular, we didn’t sign the treaty for the ICC. It has no jurisdiction under – over our people. It’s been trying to exert it.

You know this, Jake, as well as I do: When Americans misbehave, whether it’s our military, intelligence officers, we have a robust democratic process that holds them accountable. You’ve seen us do that for those that misbehaved. There is in no way any need for the ICC to intervene.

Frankly, this was – this would have been a very political effort to try and take on the people who were acting on behalf of the United States in ways that were completely consistent with our laws and try and hold them accountable in ways that were completely inappropriate. I am very pleased that the ICC made this decision today. It’s the right one.

Know that if Americans are found to have done things that are unlawful or against the laws of war, the U.S. system will always hold them accountable, but the ICC is not the right place to do it. We didn’t sign up for that, and they had no authority over these people. I’m glad that they recognized that.

QUESTION: So you’re in Chile right now. Let me ask you a question if I can about our immigration policy. President Trump has cut aid to Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala – the so-called Norther Triangle countries in Central America. He says they’re not doing enough on immigration. Your own agency, the State Department, your own experts and data suggest that the aid is actually having a tremendous effect, and in El Salvador the aid went in and homicides went down and the number of people fleeing El Salvador went down. Isn’t it self-defeating for the United States to cut those aid dollars? Doesn’t it just end up sending more migrants, more caravans to the United States?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Jake, that’s the liberal theory for sure. Let’s just go back to basic reality; it’s what we try and do in the Trump administration. Hundreds of millions of dollars spent in Honduras, in Guatemala, in El Salvador, and you see the results. You see the results yesterday, you saw them last week, you see people fleeing those nations. Throwing more money at this problem, which is what I think your question is suggesting, there’s no reason to believe that we’d get any outcome that is different from the one that we’re suffering from today.

So what the Trump administration is trying to do is saying hey, we’re prepared to help. We’re prepared to engage. We’re prepared to support. But you, you have to take serious efforts, whether it’s in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, and Mexico for that matter too – we need those nations to ensure that their people aren’t making this dangerous transit across Mexico and coming into our country illegally. That’s what we’re asking these countries to do. When they begin to do that, America’s support will again return.

QUESTION: Well, you can call it liberal if you want. The statistics come from your State Department, and among the individuals who support the idea of foreign aid to those countries are the last Department of Homeland Security secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, and the current acting secretary, Kevin McAleenan. They think that that money helps keep migrants in those countries. I’m not sure that you think they’re liberal.

SECRETARY POMPEO: I think that President Trump’s decision makes perfect sense. We’re going to get this right, Jake. We’re going to stop spending hundreds of millions of dollars of U.S. taxpayer monies and ending up with the same result we’ve ended up for for far too long. I think the data that you described proves this point. It describes that what we were doing simply didn’t work.

QUESTION: Well, the data as I saw —

SECRETARY POMPEO: Jake, you know the old saw, right?

QUESTION: Yeah.

SECRETARY POMPEO: If what you’re doing doesn’t work, you ought to think about another path forward. You’d agree with that, wouldn’t you, Jake?

QUESTION: I would. But from what I got from Customs and border patrol folks – Border Protection folks using State Department data was money went to El Salvador, homicides went down by 50 percent, and fewer migrants were coming from El Salvador. Now, I take your point that not all the governments of the Northern Triangle countries are doing everything you want them to do, but it seems to me just based on your agency’s data that you giving money to El Salvador was helping to reduce violence in that country and helping to reduce migrants coming from El Salvador to the United States.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Jake, the American taxpayers have been enormously generous to each of those three countries for an awfully long time. We’re prepared to continue to do that, but we’ve got to see things change. We’ve got to see reality, real outcomes on the ground. Jake, when we see that I promise you Americans will continue to be generous, we’ll continue to make sense with how we spend our dollars, and we will get good outcomes. It’s not enough to spend money and have wishful thinking. President Trump understands that we need to see actual change, actual good outcomes. When we see those, when we see those nations engage in activities that reduce the outflow of migration from their nations, the American people will continue to be incredibly generous. They always have been.

QUESTION: Do you have any concerns – let’s switch to the Middle East. I’m sorry, let me identify the – your bailiwick is the world here. Let’s go a little bit to the east. Do you have any concerns about the comments Israeli prime minister who – Benjamin Netanyahu, who was just reelected – made right before he was reelected vowing to annex the West Bank? Do you think that might hurt the pursuit of peace, the two-state solution proposal that Jared Kushner and others, including you, have been working so hard on?

SECRETARY POMPEO: I don’t. I think that the vision that we’ll lay out is going to represent a significant change from the model that’s been used. Again, I talked about it in Central America, we’ve had a lot of ideas for 40 years; they did not deliver peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Our mission set is to put forward a vision. Ultimately, the Israelis and the Palestinian people will have to make this – resolve this for themselves.

But our idea is to put forward a vision that has ideas that are new, that are different, that are unique, that tries to reframe and reshape what’s been an intractable problem that multiple administrations have grappled with, multiple administrations in Israel as well. We hope that we can get to a better place. Everyone wants this conflict resolved. We want a better life for the Israelis without this conflict, and we certain want a better life for the people of – the Palestinian people, both in the West Bank and in Gaza.

QUESTION: All right. I’m being told that I have a deadline and I have to get off, because you have other things to do. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, we always enjoy you coming on and taking our questions. Thanks so much for your time, and safe travels.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you, Jake. Thank you, sir.

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The text of the following statement was released by the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and Government of the United States on the occasion of the Energy Security Dialogue conducted in Washington, DC.

Begin text:

The Governments of the United States and Vietnam held the second annual U.S.-Vietnam Energy Security Dialogue in Washington, D.C., on April 12, 2019. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources (ENR) Francis R. Fannon and Republic of Vietnam Vice Minister of Industry and Trade (MOIT) Dang Hoang An, along with interagency representatives from both countries, reaffirmed the United States and Vietnam’s commitment to deepening cooperation on energy security. This Energy Security Dialogue built on a year of intensive engagement since the inaugural 2018 U.S.-Vietnam Energy Security Dialogue.

The U.S. and Vietnam delegations emphasized the centrality of energy security to sustained economic development in light of the region’s tremendous economic growth and rising energy demands. They recognized that energy security is strengthened by using all forms of energy, as well as by diversifying sources and supply routes. They noted the key role that energy infrastructure — including power generation equipment for all forms of energy – fossil and renewables – and international power interconnections — will play in diversifying Vietnam’s energy supplies and enhancing Vietnam’s energy security. To this end, both sides affirmed the importance of improving the transparency and predictability of Vietnam’s energy sector investment climate through private sector-led development and regulatory reforms.

Assistant Secretary Fannon offered continued technical assistance to support efforts to enhance the regulatory capacity of the Electricity Regulatory Authority of Vietnam (ERAV). Specifically, ENR will support ERAV with developing: 1) a competitive power market; 2) smart grid and demand response programs; and 3) the regulatory tools necessary for competitive wholesale and retail electricity markets. ENR will continue to work closely with partners in MOIT and the Directorate for Standards, Metrology, and Quality (STOMAQ) to increase energy efficiency in the region through technical engagements, and will seek ASEAN endorsement for voluntary best practices. The two sides further recognized the urgency for improving energy efficiency, particularly given that air conditioning comprises up to fifty percent of peak electricity demand in ASEAN countries and has a significant impact on energy security.

With respect to renewable energy, Vietnam representatives discussed their pilot program for Direct Power Purchase Agreements (DPPAs) that allows U.S. corporations with 100 percent renewable energy targets to directly purchase electricity generated from renewable energy sources for their production facilities in Vietnam. In addition, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) demonstrated its support for enhancing Vietnam’s storage capacity by funding a joint Electricity Vietnam (EVN)-GE Power study on the use of advanced energy storage technologies to reduce power shortages in Southern Vietnam. During the Dialogue, EVN and GE power signed an agreement to carry out that study.

With respect to liquefied national gas (LNG), both delegations highlighted the U.S.-Vietnam LNG workshop in Ho Chi Minh City in December 2018, which promoted securing stable LNG supplies for power generation and expediting investments in the LNG sector. The two sides discussed AES Corporation’s proposal to invest in the Son My 2 LNG-to-power project.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) highlighted its support for cooperating with MOIT on power sector reforms, increasing Vietnam’s renewable energy and storage capacity, promoting natural gas imports, and enhancing energy efficiency.

The United States and Vietnam delegations committed to continued cooperation in all of the areas discussed in the Dialogue and to review progress at the third U.S.-Vietnam Energy Security Dialogue in 2020 to be held in Vietnam.

End text.

For further information, contact Vincent Campos, Spokesperson for the Bureau of Energy Resources, at CamposVM@state.gov or visit www.state.gov/e/enr. Additional information is available on Twitter at @EnergyAtState.

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