Maduro rejects Kerry’s ‘threat,’ proposes talks with Obama
CARACAS, Feb. 22 –(AVN)– Recent statements by the U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, confirm the U.S. government’s intent to meddle in the internal affairs of Venezuela, President Nicolás Maduro denounced.
“John Kerry threatens Venezuela with more violence. With his statements he gives green light to the violent groups to attack our people,” he said through his Twitter account, @NicolasMaduro.
Kerry described as “unacceptable” the alleged use of force by security forces against ultra-right shock groups, whose actions have left four dead and more than 70 injured in recent days.
[To read the Kerry statement in full, click here.]
This is not the first time that Kerry engages in open interference. He recently defended the summonses to the streets made by right-winger Leopoldo López to foster a coup d’état in Venezuela.
In his statement, Kerry questioned the democratic nature of the government of President Nicolás Maduro and said that the alleged “use of force and judicial intimidation against citizens and political figures […] will only increase the likelihood of violence.”
The Secretary of State, who on repeated occasions has maintained a clear and open attitude of interference, charged, without giving references or proof, that the Bolivarian government “has confronted” purportedly peaceful demonstrators, from whom were taken Molotov bombs, stones, marbles and golf balls, among other blunt objects.
Kerry’s statements “confirm the terms of the threat I denounced,” Maduro said, adding: “Let the brutal and insolent Empire know that we shall continue to defeat them with the force of our people, which is the Force of Bolívar and Chávez.”
Earlier, during a press conference with the national and international media at Miraflores Palace in Caracas, the chief of state said that the objective of the continuous attack of violent groups in the country is “to weaken the government and justify a civil commotion, people against people, to divide the Armed Forces and justify an intervention by a military force from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) or the United States.”
The president said that the plans, which also seek to overthrow his government, have been conceived and decided upon by the groups of power in the Pentagon, headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense.
He said that, during Barack Obama’s administration, several coups d’état have been attempted in Latin America, such as those in Ecuador and Bolivia and the one in Honduras against former President Manuel Zelaya.
Maduro called on his U.S. counterpart to resolve mutual differences by the political and diplomatic routes, on the basis of respect for the sovereignty and independence of all nations.
In his meeting with the media, Maduro proposed to the Obama government to engage in a dialogue to “generate a change in the historical relations of the United States elite with the countries of Latin America and, in this case, Venezuela.
“The dialogue with the United States will be difficult, complex,” he said. “It will be that way for many years, until we reach a point in history when the Revolution will be recognized by the elites that govern the United States.”
To assume this task, Maduro proposed the Venezuelan ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), Roy Chaderton.
The president also denounced the misrepresentation of information by the private communications media, which have been publishing photos of demonstrations in other countries and attributing them to the current situation in Venezuela.
[Read “Venezuela entre las redes” in this issue of Progreso Semanal. Also, “Los medios internacionales…” in the Venezuelan News Agency.]
On Thursday, Maduro announced the start of an administrative process against the international television network CNN “for instigating a civil war and hatred among Venezuelans and saying to the world that Venezuela should be taken over.”
