United States vice president Mike Pence has on Friday said that Venezuelan legitimate president Nicolas Maduro “must go”, stating Maduro is a dictator with no legitimate claim to power.
According to ANI news reports, the White House issued a statement in which Pence stated, “Make no mistake about it. The struggle in Venezuela is between dictatorship and democracy, but freedom has momentum. Nicolas Maduro is a dictator with no legitimate claim to power, and Nicolas Maduro must go.”
Pence remarks come during his official visit to Rice University’s Baker Institute in Texas. In reference to self-proclaimed interim leader Juan Guaido, Pence said, “He and his duly-elected government and the National Assembly have our full support because the American people support the Constitution of Venezuela, we support the rule of law, and we recognize that Nicolás Maduro’s dictatorship is destroying that once great and prosperous nation.”
He added, “When the dictator came to power, six long years ago, he promised to deliver socialism. And sadly for the people of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro did just that.”
Further, Pence noted in his speech that nine out of ten people live in poverty in Venezuela. He said, “Thousands of babies in hospitals across Venezuela are dying due to lack of basic medical care and treatment.”
Pence blamed Maduro for blocking humanitarian aids entering Venezuela through Colombian border. However, Maduro has accepted humanitarian aid convoys from Russia.
Pence said the United States has also working to cut off money from Maduro’s corrupt regime, adding, “We’re imposing sanctions on more than 150 government officials and organizations that are loyal to the dictator in Caracas.”