Carlos Giménez calls for regime change in Iran, Venezuela

U.S. Rep. Carlos Giménez, a Republican from Miami-Dade, says that President Donald Trump’s administration has unfinished business in two countries historically hostile to the United States.

Appearing on C-SPAN’s “Ceasefire” Friday, the Congressman warned that leaving the current Iranian regime in place would simply guarantee a future war. He also strongly argued that simply removing Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela isn’t enough, given that the apparatus of his government was still in place with Delcy Rodríguez as Interim President.

“I’m a lot more aggressive than probably some of my colleagues, okay? We’re at the 20 yard line. I want to score a touchdown. I don’t want to kick a field goal. Kick a field goal means we’re going to overtime. We’re gonna do it again. And so the only way that we score a touchdown is we actually do change the regime,” Giménez said.

He believes the price will be worth it, even if Americans suffer in the short term.

“With this regime in place, they have set for 47 years that they want to kill us, that they want to destroy Israel. I take them at their word. And so I don’t want my children or grandchildren fighting Iran in the future. A nuclear armed Iran in the future, much less. And so, if we’re there and we’ve undertaken this enterprise, then I think we need to finish the job. If we can finish the job quickly, then the American people understand why they’ve had the suffering for a couple of months with higher prices.”

Giménez said he was “looking to the future,” arguing that standing down without changing the government would be tantamount to appeasing the leader of Nazi Germany during World War II.

“People say: ‘Well, we don’t know what kind of regime comes later’. Well, I know the kind of regime we have now, uh, and so, you know, uh, we could have said the same thing about Germany back in World War II. Well, you know, hey, you know, we’re really gonna take out (Adolf) Hitler? What kind of regime comes after that? Well, I think I’d rather take out Hitler.”

He’s willing to consider “boots on the ground” also for “tactical objectives” that “ensure the long-term safety of us and Israel and people in that region.”

Turning to Venezuela, the Congressman called for more aggressive action also, even as he acknowledges an improvement over all.

“We need to get to elections in Venezuela as soon as possible. And I’ll tell you why. If you keep Delcy Rodriguez in, the same regime, all they’ll do is wait us out. And as soon as they think that conditions are better, they’ll turn their backs on the United States, and then they’ll go back to doing exactly what they were doing before, because the same regime is still in place. The only thing that changed was Nicolas Maduro is out.”