Puerto Rican governor expects Trump to swiftly respond to Venezuelas open threat to invade territory

Puerto Rico’s governor informed President-elect Donald Trump on Monday that she is ready to work with him on responding to Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro’s “open threat” to invade the US territory.In a letter to the incoming president, Republican Gov.Jenniffer González-Colón noted that she fully expects the Trump administration to “swiftly respond” to Maduro’s weekend saber-rattling and warned that the “murderous” dictator is attempting to “grow his influence” in the region. “Yesterday, just a few days after holding an illegitimate swearing-in ceremony in a desperate attempt to cling on to power in Venezuela, socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro publicly proposed an invasion of Puerto Rico,” read González-Colón’s missive to the president-elect.“This is an open threat to the United States, our national security, and stability in the region,” the governor added.

“I trust your incoming administration will swiftly respond and make clear to the Maduro regime that, under your leadership, the United States will protect American lives and sovereignty and will not bow down to the threats of petty, murderous dictators.” Maduro, 62, issued the ominous warning on Saturday during a speech at the International Anti-Fascist Festival in Venezuela’s capital city of Caracas.“Just as in the north they have a colonization agenda, we have a liberation agenda,” Maduro said at the event.“And our agenda was written by Simón Bolívar,” he added, invoking the 19th-century South American revolutionary.“The freedom of Puerto Rico is pending, and we will achieve it with Brazilian troops.”Maduro’s threat came a day after he was sworn in for a new term as president of Venezuela, a position he’s clung to since 2013. The United States and several other Western powers have decried last year’s elections in Venezuela as “illegitimate,” arguing that Maduro’s repressive socialist regime stole the vote. Rep.

Mario Diaz-Balart (R-...