Venezuela condemns US senator who says world would back a coup
Venezuela’s foreign minister says Washington wants to replace Maduro with a right-wing dictator like those who ruled regional countries with an iron fist in years past, someone like Augusto Pinochet of Chile.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro talks to the media before an event with supporters of Somos Venezuela (WeareVenezuela) movement in Caracas, Venezuela February 7, 2018. (ReutersArchive)
The Venezuelan government has sharply condemned the suggestion by US Senator Marco Rubio that “the world would support” an armed coup to remove President Nicolas Maduro, whom the American lawmaker denounced as a “dictator.”
The Venezuelan armed forces are “committed to the constitution” and will defend the presidential elections set for April 22, said Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza.
Arreaza suggested that Washington wanted to replace Maduro with a right-wing dictator like those who ruled regional countries with an iron fist in years past, someone like Augusto Pinochet of Chile.
“But these are different times,” Arreaza, who recently toured Caribbean countries, told the Telesur network on Friday.
Rubio tweeted on Friday that “the world would support the Armed Forces in #Venezuela if they decide to protect the people & restore democracy by removing a dictator.”
The world would support the Armed Forces in #Venezuela if they decide to protect the people & restore democracy by removing a dictator
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 9, 2018
He added that “soldiers eat out of garbage cans & their families go hungry in #Venezuela while Maduro & friends live like kings & block humanitarian aid.”
Soldiers eat out of garbage cans & their families go hungry in #Venezuela while Maduro & friends live like kings & block humanitarian aid
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 9, 2018