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.
