Venezuela President Maduro censures US intervention, bans
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has censured the United States for meddling in the South American country and imposing sanctions on seven Venezuelan officials.
“[US] President Barack Obama, in the name of the US imperialist elite, has decided to personally take on the task of defeating my government, intervening in Venezuela, and controlling it from the US,” Maduro said in a fiery speech broadcast on state television on Monday night.
The president appeared alongside the sanctioned officials and congratulated them for the “imperial honor” granted by Washington, a remark welcomed by the officials.
Under Obama’s order on Monday, the US property and bank accounts of the officials, including the former national guard chief Antonio Benavides, intelligence chief Gustavo Gonzales and national police chief Manuel Perez, will be frozen and they will be denied US visas.
Washington accused the officials of rights violations in relation to last year’s protests in Venezuela.
Maduro said, “Obama today took the most aggressive, unjust and poisonous step that the US has ever taken against Venezuela,” adding that he would ask his country’s congress to confer him new powers to defend the nation and “fight imperialism.”
Caracas and Washington have been at odds since late Hugo Chavez became Venezuela’s president in 1999. Both sides have refused to exchange ambassadors since 2010.
Washington has admitted it endorsed a coup that briefly toppled Chavez in 2002.
The Venezuelan government recently ordered the American embassy to cut the number of its staff from 100 to 17 by around mid-March as only 17 Venezuelan diplomats are currently serving in the US.
Earlier, Venezuela also scrapped a visa waiver scheme under which American visitors could get a short-term tourism visa immediately on arrival. Caracas also imposed further restriction on US citizens seeking to visit Venezuela, including, among other things, evidence of property in the US and a return airline ticket. The Venezuelan government says the measures mirror similar restrictions imposed by Washington on Venezuelan visitors seeking to visit the US.
On February 12, Maduro said a US-backed coup plot against him had been foiled. Washington denied the claim that it was involved in any coup plot against Caracas.
MSM/HJL/HMV
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