Venezuela foreign minister slams US secretary of state

Venezuela’s foreign minister has slammed US Secretary of State John Kerry for meddling in the internal affairs of the country.

Speaking at a ceremony to honor late President Hugo Chavez in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, on Friday, Elias Jaua said, “We denounce you as an assassin of the Venezuelan people, Mr. Kerry. We are not going to lower our tone before any empire, until you order your lackeys in Venezuela to stop the violence against the people.”

“…You encourage the protests in Venezuela and we are going to denounce that in every part of the world.”

“You who are so hurt that we speak out, as you said to me in Guatemala, ‘You all need to lower your tone.’ We will not lower our tone,” the Venezuelan foreign minister added.

Venezuela has been rocked by a wave of protests since early February. At least 28 people have been killed in the violence since then.

During a separate event on Friday, Interior and Justice Minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres said, “Venezuela is being subjected to an insurrectionary protest and it is currently in a subversionary phase.”

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has accused the United States of backing the opposition to launch a coup d’état in Venezuela.

On Thursday, the US Senate introduced a bipartisan bill that compels Washington to target Venezuelan officials, who it says are involved in violence in Venezuela.

The proposed bill also includes an additional 15 million dollars in funds to help the Venezuelan opposition.

Meanwhile, ten members of the US House of Representatives are seeking to impose visa bans, asset freezes and financial sanctions on Venezuelan officials.