Secretary of State John Kerry has today accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of waging a "campaign of terror" against his own people after revealing yesterday that the United States would be "prepared" to implement sanctions against the troubled South American country. At the at Congress' Committee for Foreign Affairs, Kerry urged Maduro to respect the human rights of his citizens and lamented that the US had again become a scapegoat for the country's domestic failings.
"We believe it is time that the OEA, its neighbors, other partners and international organization focus on Venezuela appropriately and make them accountable," he said in response to a question from Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Florida). Kerry also reminded the Committee that Vice-President Joe Biden had spoken out earlier from Chile about the situation in Venezuela about the situation in the region. Meanwhile, the Secretary of State spoke yesterday and lamented that Maduro has continued Chavez' policy of publically insulting the United States.
“We’ve become an excuse,” Mr. Kerry said. “We want fair distribution of the resources. We want opportunity, economic opportunity. We want to provide the health care and education, all the things that their young people are screaming for,” he said. “Unfortunately,” he added, the Maduro government has “been more prone to simply want to use us as a political card in their domestic efforts. And I think that’s come home to roost, frankly, now.”
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