Venezuelan army slams Obama's "highly dangerous" comments

The Venezuelan army on Thursday criticized U.S. President Barack Obama's recent comments questioning the legitimacy of the country's government.

Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez told the army to be aware of Obama's "highly dangerous" comments, following Obama's renewal of an executive order declaring Venezuela to be a threat to U.S. national security, according to a statement from the army.

The Venezuelan army "cannot remain silent against such highly dangerous declarations, when the president of the United States declares the Venezuelan government is illegitimate," the statement quoted Padrino Lopez as saying.

"The attitude of Mr. Obama offends the dignity and honor of the Venezuelan nation, which is a democratic state of law and justice," it said.

The Venezuelan army also criticized Obama for seeking to reinforce the notion that Venezuela is a threat by suggesting the potential of the collapse of its economy.

According to the Venezuelan army, this would give "justification" to the United States "to intervene in a direct way" in Venezuela's domestic affairs.

In an interview with CNN on Monday, Obama said he was "preoccupied" that a collapse of the Venezuelan economy could lead to a chain reaction across the economies of Colombia, Mexico and Central America, and a change of regime in Venezuela will be better off "for all of us."

Caracas dismissed Obama's remarks as "meddlesome."

Earlier this month, Obama renewed for another year of an executive order, which he signed in March 2015 to declare Venezuela a national security threat, saying Venezuela's political situation "has not improved."

And in protest, Venezuela recalled its top diplomat to the United States. Endi