Off the wire
• Brazil's ex-president investigated for alleged business peddling  • 2nd LD: S.Korea invites DPRK to Seoul-hosted regional security forum  • Roundup: Myanmar gov't, ethnic groups set to resume ceasefire talks in Yangon  • Powerful typhoon lands on W Japan two times, leaving 2 dead  • Former official lashes out New Zealand's main opposition party on housing data  • News Analysis: Mullah Omar okays peace process; prospects for peace in Afghanistan brighten  • 1st LD Writethru: S. Korea invites DPRK to Seoul-hosted regional security forum  • Luis Fabiano seeks Mexico move  • Cuba, Germany to strengthen bilateral cooperation  • U.S. approves continued probe against steel products from China  
You are here: 　 Home

Media spotlights Twitter squabbles between Venezuelan FM, U.S. official

Xinhua, July 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Venezuelan media outlets Thursday spotlighted a war of words on social media between the country's Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez and a U.S. State Department official.

The argument erupted after U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson said via Twitter Wednesday that Washington was "very concerned over the exclusion" of Venezuela's right-wing opposition leader Maria Corina Machado from public office.

According to Venezuelan tax authorities, Machado, the conservative politician, submitted an incomplete declaration of assets, which left out earnings from her term as deputy in the National Assembly.

She has been sanctioned by being barred from holding a political post for a year.

Jacobson said on Twitter that Machado had been unfairly targeted, claiming Venezuelan authorities are trying to control the upcoming polls in December.

"A level playing field is key for free, fair elections in Venezuela," she posted.

However, Rodriguez responded by calling on the U.S. official to "stop attacking" Venezuela and respect its institutions and laws.

"Ms. Jacobson has a hard time maintaining constructive and respectful relations with Venezuela," Rodriguez wrote on Twitter. "Nor does she understand she won't ever rule us," she added.

Regional daily Correo del Orinoco praised the minister's "dignified and firm stance over the latest U.S. attack against Venezuela's sovereignty."

Noticias 24, Venezuela's news network, noted that Rodriguez "demands respect from Roberta Jacobson."

Machado, who plans to run for a deputy seat in legislative elections in December, is one of the most controversial and divisive figures among Venezuela's right-wing extremists.

She is believed to have close ties to the U.S. State Department, to have played a key role in fomenting recent violent anti-government protests, and to have helped organize a failed coup attempt against the socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro.

Machado was stripped of her former seat in March 2014 for violating constitutional laws by denouncing Venezuela's reformist government in her address to the meeting of the Organization of American States. Endi