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'Do you fear me?': Venezuela's Maduro mocks Latin American critics and threatens to crash regional summit

Nicolas Maduro
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro gestures as he speaks during a ceremony to mark the opening of the judicial year at the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) in Caracas, Venezuela February 14, 2018. REUTERS/Marco Bello

  • Latin American leaders tried to exclude Venezuela's socialist president Nicolas Maduro from an upcoming summit in Lima.
  • Maduro said his counterparts showed intolerance.
  • "They're the most unpopular governments on the planet," he said, naming Argentina, Colombia and Peru.
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CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's 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.

Peru's center-right government this week said Maduro would not be welcome at the Summit of the Americas in April, reinforcing his growing diplomatic isolation during a crackdown on dissent and a brutal economic crisis in Venezuela.

"Do you fear me? You don't want to see me in Lima? You're going to see me. Because come rain or shine, by air, land, or sea, I will attend the Summit of the Americas," Maduro said during a press conference with foreign journalists.

Maduro also said Argentina's center-right 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.

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"Call a meeting, dare, don't be scared of me, President Macri," said Maduro. "If you want to talk about Venezuela, let's talk about Venezuela."

Government critics say Maduro for years has refused to listen to advice that he should reform Venezuela's crumbling economy that has spawned shortages, hyperinflation, malnutrition, and the return of once-controlled diseases. They also say he refuses to acknowledge the extent of Venezuela's humanitarian suffering, making it futile to meet with him.

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's oil resources.

"They're the most unpopular governments on the planet," he said, naming Argentina, Colombia and Peru.

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He lashed out at center-right Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, whose parents were of Swiss and Polish descent and who studied in England, as particularly out of touch with Latin American reality.

"Kuczynski struggles to speak Spanish," Maduro said after mocking his counterpart's low approval levels.

Maduro can still count on support from leftist allies in Latin America, including Bolivia's Evo Morales and Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega. On Thursday communist-run Cuba's Foreign Ministry said it rejected Venezuela's exclusion from the summit and vowed "unshakeable solidarity" with Maduro's government.

Venezuela, home to the world's biggest crude reserves, also has 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.

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(Writing by Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Andrew Hay)

Read the original article on Reuters. Copyright 2018. Follow Reuters on Twitter.
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