Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro had been getting ready to depart the country for Cuba, but Russian President Vladimir Putin stopped him.
The embattled Venezuelan leader has refused to step down, despite violent protests against his government and most of the world recognizing Juan Guaidó as the country's acting president. Pompeo told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that "it's been a long time since anyone's seen Maduro," and he "had an airplane on the tarmac, he was ready to leave this morning, as we understand it, and the Russians indicated he should stay."
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