{"id":58949,"date":"2018-02-16T05:33:04","date_gmt":"2018-02-16T05:33:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=58949"},"modified":"2018-02-16T05:33:04","modified_gmt":"2018-02-16T05:33:04","slug":"do-you-fear-me-venezuelas-maduro-vows-to-gatecrash-regional-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/world-news\/do-you-fear-me-venezuelas-maduro-vows-to-gatecrash-regional-summit.html","title":{"rendered":"‘Do you fear me?’: Venezuela’s Maduro vows to gatecrash regional summit"},"content":{"rendered":"

‘Do you fear me?’: Venezuela’s Maduro vows to gatecrash regional summit<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Venezuela\u2019s unpopular socialist president Nicolas Maduro said on Thursday his right-wing Latin American counterparts showed intolerance by trying to exclude him from an upcoming summit in Lima – and he vowed to go anyway.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDo you fear me? You don\u2019t want to see me in Lima? You\u2019re going to see me. Because come rain or shine, by air, land, or sea, I will attend the Summit of the Americas,\u201d Maduro told foreign journalists at the Miraflores presidential palace.<\/span><\/p>\n

Peru\u2019s center-right government this week said Maduro would not be welcome at the April summit, reinforcing his growing diplomatic isolation during a crackdown on dissent and a brutal economic crisis in Venezuela.<\/span><\/p>\n

Later on Thursday, Peru\u2019s Prime Minister Mercedes Araoz told journalists that Maduro \u201creally needs to understand that in Peru we don\u2019t want to receive him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Maduro also said Argentina\u2019s president Mauricio Macri, with whom he has regularly sparred, should call a meeting of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) group of Latin American nations with him.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCall a meeting, dare, don\u2019t be scared of me, President Macri,\u201d said Maduro. \u201cIf you want to talk about Venezuela, let\u2019s talk about Venezuela.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Government critics say Maduro for years has refused to listen to advice that he should reform Venezuela\u2019s crumbling economy that has spawned shortages, hyperinflation, malnutrition, and the return of once-controlled diseases. They also say he refuses to acknowledge Venezuela\u2019s humanitarian suffering, making it futile to meet.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maduro, a 55 year-old former bus driver and union leader, says right-wing regional governments are part of U.S.-led international conspiracy to topple him and take control of the OPEC member\u2019s oil resources.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re the most unpopular governments on the planet,\u201d he said, naming Argentina, Colombia and Peru.<\/span><\/p>\n

He lashed out at Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, whose parents were of Swiss and Polish descent and who studied at Oxford and Princeton, as particularly out of touch with Latin American realities.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cKuczynski struggles to speak Spanish,\u201d Maduro said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maduro can still count on support from leftist allies including Bolivia\u2019s Evo Morales and Nicaragua\u2019s Daniel Ortega. And Communist-run Cuba\u2019s Foreign Ministry also said it rejected Venezuela\u2019s exclusion from the summit and vowed \u201cunshakeable solidarity\u201d with Maduro\u2019s government.<\/span><\/p>\n

Venezuela, home to the world\u2019s biggest crude reserves, has further backing from global giants China and Russia, which have both lent Caracas billions of dollars. Still, even their support has cooled somewhat during a fifth straight year of recession and widespread accusations of mismanagement and corruption.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-venezuela-politics-latam\/do-you-fear-me-venezuelas-maduro-vows-to-gatecrash-regional-summit-idUSKCN1FZ2HG<\/span><\/p>\n

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