Vice President Pence tours USNS Comfort before its Latin America deployment

Vice President Mike Pence (center), his wife Karen Pence (left), and Navy Adm. Craig S. Faller, commander of U.S. Southern Command, visit the hospital ship USNS Comfort at the Port of Miami, June 18, 2019. (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer Richard L.J. Gourley) 

After six years of oppression under Maduro and his regime, what was one of the wealthiest countries in the Western Hemisphere is now a country where nine out of 10 people live in poverty, Pence said.

The vice president described a country where thousands of children are starving and many are dying from lack of basic medical care. Crime, violence and lawlessness have spread like a virus, the vice president said, adding that vicious gangs have turned streets into war zones, and Venezuela now has the world's highest murder rate.

The Maduro regime is a threat to peace and security across the hemisphere, Pence said.

"While the United States has taken humanitarian action to include delivering food, Venezuelan people need more than food. They need medical care, and that's why the USNS Comfort will deploy once again," Pence said.

The vice president offered encouragement to the USNS Comfort crew. "You're embarking on a vital mission," he said. "You are fulfilling this nation's enduring promise, the very mission of [U.S. Southern Command], … at a time of great duress."

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