House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, President Donald Trump will be in Florida today, but not together

South Florida Sun Sentinel (FL)

Oct. 3--As an impeachment inquiry heats up in Washington, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Donald Trump are both planning to visit Florida today.

Pelosi will attend a forum in Weston featuring South Florida Democratic members of Congress and Venezuelan leaders. The event will be held at the Bonaventure Town Center Club. She'll also participate in a roundtable discussion in Miami that will focus on unrest in Haiti.

About 250 miles to the north, Trump -- the target of Pelosi's impeachment probe -- is expected to discuss health care at an event in The Villages, a massive retirement community where he received 68% of the vote in 2016. Gov. Ron DeSantis has announced he will also attend the event.

The dueling events offer a preview of the battle to come in the 2020 presidential election. As usual, Florida is expected to play a pivotal role. Trump won Florida by about 113,00 votes in 2016.

Pelosi and South Florida Democratic leaders will discuss their plan to ease suffering in Venezuela and assist people fleeing the Latin American country.

A "Rally Against Democratic Socialism" is being organized on Facebook for Pelosi's visit Thursday. As of Tuesday night, about 100 people had indicated they were interested in attending. Last October, protesters shouting "comunista" heckled Pelosi when she visited South Florida to support Democratic congressional candidates.

Thursday's forum is limited to invited Venezuelan guests and is not open to the public.

Both parties have been vying for support from the estimated 200,000 Venezuelans living in Florida. The group is seen as a critical voting bloc up for grabs in the 2020 presidential election.

The Democratic agenda includes offering temporary protected status to Venezuelans to curb deportations and expanding humanitarian assistance. Democrats also want to create a plan to address Russia's growing military presence in Venezuela and ban exports of arms used against pro-Democracy protesters.

South Florida U.S. Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell and Donna Shalala will participate in the forum, along with Carlos Vecchio, whom the Trump administration recognizes as Venezuela's ambassador to the United States, and Rep. Albio Sires, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Western Hemisphere Subcommittee.

Both South Florida Democrats and Republicans like U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott have joined in opposing Maduro.

Trump delivered a fiery speech at Florida International University in February, proclaiming his opposition to Venezuela's leader President Nicolás Maduro. The Trump administration has used sanctions to try to force Maduro from power and thrown its support behind opposition leader Juan Guaidó.

Wasserman Schultz's district includes Weston, which is home to so many people from the South American country that it's referred to by many as "Westonzuela."

Skyler Swisher can be reached at [email protected], 561-243-6634 or @SkylerSwisher.

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