Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday used a Venezuelan Independence Day message to call out socialist President Nicolas Maduro and “undesired foreign presence and profiteers” Mr. Pompeo said were taking advantage of the country.
“Once again, the Venezuelan people are besieged by dictatorship, undesired foreign presence and profiteers,” Mr. Pompeo said in a statement. He did not identify the foreign profiteers, but Cuba, Russia and China have provided support to the regime in Caracas.
“We are with you in your struggle to reclaim your democratic self-governance and free it from those who have betrayed, oppressed, and robbed the Venezuelan people of the wealth of your great nation,” Mr. Pompeo said.
In his statement, Mr. Pompeo reaffirmed the Trump administration’s support for opposition leader Juan Guaido, who has said Mr. Maduro’s 2018 reelection was riddled with fraud and declared himself the country’s interim president.
The secretary’s sentiments come the same day as a Venezuelan diplomat blasted a United Nations human rights report that detailed torture, abuse and extrajudicial killings by the government as “biased,” The Associated Press reported.
• Lauren Toms can be reached at lmeier@washingtontimes.com.
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