Responding to a claim by embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro that his country is facing an imminent invasion by the United States, Sen. Marco Rubio called the leader a clown and incompetent tyrant.
Rubio, who suspended his campaign for the presidency in March, issued his comments on Twitter as tensions remain high between the two countries.
The New York Times declared in an editorial that Maduro made his remarks as a transparent diversionary tactic against the efforts to throw him out as president through a popular referendum.
Rubio has been at the forefront of targeting Venezuelan authorities for their human rights abuses and is a co-sponsor of a 2014 Senate bill imposing sanctions on them. After ending his presidential bid, he has been working on attempts to extend by three years the sanctions, which Maduro views as American efforts to topple his government.
PJ Media reports that Rubio explained recently the need to extend the sanctions. "Because the Maduro regime continues to violate human rights and expand its political oppression, the U.S. must continue doing our part to address this growing crisis in Venezuela," Rubio said.
"There are numerous examples of why these sanctions need to remain in place for the foreseeable future, including Maduro’s abuse of Venezuela’s Supreme Court to nullify laws like the one to release scores of political prisoners. The Maduro regime’s abuses of power and violations of human rights are hurting innocent people in our hemisphere and threaten the national security interests of the United States, and we have a responsibility to stand with the Venezuelan people by extending these sanctions."
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