WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump wants to slash funds that support democracy projects in Venezuela and Cuba while seeking authority from Congress to transfer up to $500 million to help a new transitional government if Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro falls.
Trump is proposing a 40 percent cut to funds that promote democracy and human rights in Venezuela at the same time that he and Vice President Mike Pence make promises to stick by the Venezuelan people until Maduro is ousted and their democracy is restored.
Trump is promising an even steeper 70 percent cut to democracy assistance in Cuba, raising concerns at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue that the Trump administration is undercutting its own promises by not matching money to message.
"There is a huge disconnect between the budget folks and the policy folks," said a senior administration concerned about the conflicting messages. "It sends a horrible message to the people in those countries. On the one hand where the president and vice president say they support the people and their struggle for freedom and democracy. And yet that priority is not reflected in the budget."
This financial assistance provided by the United States supports local organizations working on human rights and civil society. It supports independent media. It also helps pay for training on good government for members of Venezuela's National Assembly, whose president, Juan Guaido, has galvanized a movement across the hemisphere and is seen by 54 nations around the world as the legitimate president of Venezuela.
Trump is proposing $9 million to promote democracy and human rights in Venezuela, but Congress approved $15 million in the current fiscal year. Trump is proposing $6 million to promote democracy and human rights in Cuba, but Congress approved $20 million in the current fiscal year.
The democracy cuts are part of Trump's overall $4.75 trillion budget plan that boosted defense spending by $750 million while calling for steep cuts at most every federal agency, including a 23 percent cut at the State Department.
The Trump administration is helping lead a coalition of regional allies who are seeking to oust Maduro from the once oil-rich nation that has plummeted into an economic and humanitarian crisis that has forced more than three million people to flee. Top officials, including Pence, national security adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have repeatedly called for democracy to be restored in Venezuela during speeches to supporters on television and via social media.
USAID Administrator Mark Green told the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere last month how thankful the Guaido team inside Venezuela was for the democracy support.
"That should be particularly gratifying to all of you because of the democracy assistance programs for Venezuela that you've invested in over these last five years on a bipartisan basis," Green said. "This assistance has supported local organizations working on human rights, civil society, independent media, electoral oversight and the democratically elected national assembly."
The administration has significantly ratcheted up its rhetoric for democracy over communism since Bolton's "Troika of Tyranny" speech in November in which he called the leaders of Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua "clowns" and said the United States "looks forward to watching" their governments fall.
The Trump administration called for a reduction in democracy spending for Nicaragua _ to $6,000 from $10,000.
Some in Congress have come to the administration's defense.
"While Congress tends to appropriate at higher levels, the president's budget is historically lower than what's requested by the legislative branch," a Republican Senate staffer said. "This administration continues to stand strong with the Venezuelan people and their road towards the restoration of their democratic order."
The Obama administration also tried to cut Cuba funding, but was blocked by members of Congress. In 2017, the State Department presented to Congress a budget with zero financing for programs related to Cuba under its economic support and development fund. Aid to Venezuela was also slashed.
On Monday, Pompeo outlined how the Trump administration is seeking to transfer $500 million to help during a transition if Maduro is eventually unseated.
But some in the administration and Capitol Hill are concerned that the allocation will never materialize, be severely reduced or be long delayed because the administration didn't authorize the money nor create a plan about where the money would come from.
"If they were serious about it, they would have actually dedicated the funds and explained how they were going to do it instead of just promising to take money from elsewhere," said a Democratic congressional aide. "It's an empty promise."
In an interview Monday with McClatchy's Kansas City Star and Wichita Eagle, Pompeo said the administration is working to make sure that the citizens of Venezuela no longer have "to suffer under the tragic conditions that Maduro" has forced on his people.
"We're prepared to provide more aid than any other country in the world," Pompeo said. "And you should know that America remains the most generous nation in the world when it comes to humanitarian assistance and more broadly assistance to countries all around the globe. And when Venezuela turns the corner, it will be America, along with other countries in the region, who will be there to make sure there's long-term support for the success of the Venezuelan people."
But when pressed why make such drastic cuts at such a critical time, Pompeo pushed back.
"You just have your math wrong," he said.
Only later, the next day, after the interview was over, did a senior administration official acknowledge the numbers were correct and explain the cuts were part of overall non-defense reductions.
"While the administration views the State Department and USAID's roles in diplomacy and development as critical to national security, the administration remains committed to restraining overall non-defense discretionary spending, including for the State Department and USAID," the official said.
