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<h1 itemprop="name headline">Venezuelan President Responds to
Latest US Accusations </h1>
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President Nicolas Maduro responds to Washington’s latest
sanctions.</div>
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<p><small><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Venezuelan-President-Responds-to-Latest-US-Accusations--20150309-0036.html">http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Venezuelan-President-Responds-to-Latest-US-Accusations--20150309-0036.html</a><br>
</small></small></p>
<p>The Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro responded late Monday
to the United States government declaring his country a<a
href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Obama-Declares-Venezuela-a-Threat-to-National-Security-20150309-0011.html">
“national security threat.”</a> </p>
<p>Maduro rejected President Barack Obama's measure and explained
the executive order signed by the U.S. president coincided with
a <a
href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/telesuragenda/Venezuela-Coup-Thwarted-20150213-0007.html">failed
coup attempt</a> in Venezuela last month, which had links to
U.S. citizens. </p>
<p>“After we dismantled the coup attempt … the U.S. and President
Barack Obama … decided to personally fulfill the task of ousting
my government,” Maduro said. </p>
<p>The Venezuelan head of state said that, according to
intelligence reports he had received recently, over the last
nine days, “many meetings were held between the Department of
State and the White House,” to discuss measures to be taken
against his government. </p>
<p><strong>READ MORE:</strong> <a
href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/analysis/Declaring-a-Country-a-National-Security-Threat-20150309-0018.html">What
does it mean for the U.S. to claim a country is a security
threat?</a> </p>
<p>Highlighting the hypocrisy of Obama’s executive order, Maduro
called the statement “a Frankenstein, a monster,” as on the one
hand it heavily criticizes Venezuela, and on the other it ends
with Obama vowing to build a better relationship with the South
American country. </p>
<p>Speaking from the Miraflores Palace, the president described
the U.S. measure as the most aggressive step taken yet, largely
inspired by Washington's frustration and desperation. </p>
<p>Maduro further criticized Washington's announcement by pointing
out that the U.S. is a bigger threat to the world. </p>
<p>“You are the real threat, who trained and created Osama Bin
Laden … you are the people who created al-Qaida,” said Maduro.
Bin Laden was trained by the CIA during the late 1970s to fight
the Soviet army in Afghanistan. </p>
<p><strong>READ MORE:</strong> <a
href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/analysis/US-Labels-Venezuela-a-Threat-While-Backing-Human-Rights-Abusers-20150309-0027.html">US
Labels Venezuela a Threat While Backing Human Rights Abusers</a>
</p>
<p>He said that it was a double standard that the U.S President is
focused on the human rights of Venezuelans: “Defend the human
rights of the black U.S. citizens being killed in U.S. cities
every day, Mr. Obama,” he added. </p>
<p>Maduro pointed out that the U.S. has issued 105 statements on
Venezuela over the past year, of which half were explicitly
supporting opposition politicians. The Venezuelan president
reiterated previous calls he had publicly made to his U.S.
counterpart, urging him not to take the path of intervention
that his predecessors took in Latin America. </p>
<p>“I've told Mr. Obama, how do you want to be remembered? Like
Richard Nixon, who ousted Salvador Allende in Chile? Like
President Bush, responsible for ousting President Chavez? … Well
President Obama, you already made your choice … you will be
remembered like President Nixon”. </p>
<p><strong>READ MORE:</strong> <a
href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/analysis/US-Hypocrisy-and-the-Decision-to-Label-Venezuela-a-Threat--20150309-0028.html">US
Hypocrisy and the Decision to Label Venezuela a Threat </a> </p>
<p>According to Venezuela's intelligence sources, Maduro
explained, a politcal agreement was brokered in December last
year, between opposition lawmakers and the government, which
marked the beginning of the coup plot that was thwarted last
month. The opposition lawmakers broke the agreement after they
received a phone call, which Maduro revealed Monday came from
the U.S. Embassy in Caracas. </p>
<p>By then, the president said, “we knew who had called and from
where they had called, and in what language they spoke.,” </p>
<p>The Venezuelan authorities were also monitoring a group of
rogue officials, who they had tracked as a result of
intelligence obtained from anonymous sources in contact with the
U.S. government officials. </p>
<p>“They were trying to re-edit the April 11, 2002 events,” said
Maduro, highlighting the similarities between recent actions
carried by the opposition with events leading to the brief coup
attempt on President Hugo Chavez in 2002. </p>
<p>The president also referred to the role of Carlos Osuna,
believed to be the mastermind and financier of the coup. Osuna
“is in New York, under protection of the U.S. government,” he
said. </p>
<p><strong>Historic parallels</strong> </p>
<p>President Maduro also pointed out at the historical parallels
in Latin American history of similar actions taken by different
U.S. administrations against left-wing governments. </p>
<p>The rhetoric being used against Venezuela was like that “used
against Salvador Allende in Chile,” overthrown in a 1973 U.S
backed coup and like that “against Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala”
in 1954 when a progressive government was ousted by the US. </p>
<p>The common discourse was described by Maduro as the “coup
ideals,” which are based on accusing these left-wing
democratically elected governments of violating rights as a
justification to oust them. </p>
<p>The president reiterated that the economic sabotage – used
before in Allende's Chile – was planned since July 2014 by the
U.S. government. Sources told the government “there was a
meeting in the White House, back in July … where they (U.S.
government and agencies) decided to launch an economic warfare,”
the president revealed. </p>
<p>Maduro also reminded Venezuelans that he had warned about the
coup attempts in the early days of January, during his tour
through OPEC member countries. </p>
<p><strong>READ MORE: </strong>Eva Golinger:<strong> </strong><a
href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/US-Aggression-Against-Venezuela-Fact-Not-Fiction-20150225-0036.html">US
Aggression Against Venezuela Fact Not Fiction</a> </p>
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