Critics say the use of force was disproportionate and resulted in abuses and unnecessary deaths. 

The U.S. State Department said that the United States “is not promoting social instability in Venezuela,” nor trying to undermine its economy. 

Cuban President Raúl Castro’s recent comments (that before full diplomatic relations can be established with the U.S. it must lift the trade embargo on the island, pay compensation for damages done to the country, and return the Guantánamo military base) should be “taken with a pinch of salt.”