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Venezuela slams U.S. official's remarks on sanctions

Xinhua, April 8, 2015 Adjust font size:

Venezuela on Tuesday condemned the statements made by a U.S. State Department official that sanctions adopted by the White House are actually an expression of Washington's solidarity with the Venezuelan people.

The statements, made by Daniel Fried, the U.S. State Department's coordinator for sanctions policy, confirm Washington's "continued policy of aggression" against governments that have "derailed" from U.S. interests in the region, said Venezuela's foreign ministry in a declaration.

"The statements made by Mr. Fried ratify the hegemonic intentions of the United States against Venezuela," the declaration said.

Fried said in Madrid that neither were the sanctions economic in nature nor did they seek to punish the population, but instead they solely targeted Venezuelan "individuals" who have seriously infringed on the population's human rights and liberties.

The U.S. official admitted that sanctions do not always work when it comes to putting pressure on governments, and should only be adopted as a "political tool." He also said they should not be the focus of foreign policy.

The Venezuelan foreign ministry said such statements show the "anti-diplomatic arrogance" of the United States and disrespect for the international support Caracas has received after the recent round of sanctions.

The White House said Tuesday that Venezuela is not a security threat, in an apparent bid to defuse a controversy only a few days before Presidents Barack Obama and Nicolas Maduro are set to meet at a regional summit on Friday.

"The wording, which got a lot of attention, is completely pro forma. The United States does not believe that Venezuela poses some threat to our national security; we frankly just have a framework for how we formulate these executive orders," said Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser.

Maduro said he will be open to dialogue or some sort of reconciliation, which would be a big step for the two nations as they have not exchanged ambassadors since 2010. Endi