15 August, 2017
Pence did not directly answer the question, instead saying, "As I said today, we condemn in the strongest terms the hate and violence advocated by groups like white supremacist and neo-Nazis and their ilk".
The two countries are important allies, Santos said.
"Many in the media spent an terrible lot of time focusing on what the president said and criticisms of what the president said instead of criticizing those who brought that hatred and violence to the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia", Pence said.
"The president called on our nation to look for ways to come together, to make sure that these extremist groups are pushed out of the public debate and not given the attention that they too often receive", Pence said, adding that Trump would continue calling for a "focus on what unites us, our commitment to freedom, our commitment to justice for all".
I will say I take issue with the fact that many in the national media spent more time criticizing the President's words than they did criticizing those who perpetrated the violence to begin with.
Yet a Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee who calls himself "a pretty hawkish guy" expressed skepticism about the idea of American troops in Caracas.
Trump appeared to complicate the discussions Friday with an unexpected statement that he would not rule out a "military option" in response to the Venezuelan government's attempt to consolidate power.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Santos in Cartagena, Pence did not rule out using military force, but he did not directly talk about it either. "I'm open-minded to a reason, but at the end of the day, our military should be deployed when there's a national security interest that can be articulated to the American people", South Carolina's Lindsey Graham told Fox News Sunday.
Two days after US administration imposed sanctions on Venezuela, Trump said Friday that a military option against Venezuela was on the table, describing the situation there as a "dangerous mess". "We have many options for Venezuela, including a possible military option if necessary".
Venezuelan officials have been firing back in a series of statements, with Information Minister Ernest Villegas denouncing USA meddling in Venezuela's affairs as hypocritical on Twitter Monday.
The coalition rejected "the use of force or threats of applying the same in Venezuela on the part of any country". McMaster told ABC's "This Week".
"The president never takes options off the table in any of these situations and what we owe him are options".
Mr Pence has other stops scheduled this week in Argentina, Chile and Panama, giving speeches and meeting with leaders.
In an interview with NBC News on Sunday, Pence struggled to explain the "many sides" Trump mentioned in his statement.
