‘Anyone who messes with Venezuela dries up and you dry up,’ Nicolas Maduro warns Ecuador’s president | International | News

On at least two occasions in less than a week, Ecuador’s president, Daniel Noboa, has mentioned Chavista leader Nicolás Maduro, in the context of the last Disqualification of opposition candidate Maria Corina Machado for elections in Venezuela.

This Wednesday, the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, rejected the “threat” of the President of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, not to recognize the Venezuelan presidential elections to be held this year.

“You are threatening Venezuela from Ecuador, Noboa. Do not open the doors of your country to Satan, and I tell you something that is even worse, think carefully when you are going to mess with Venezuela. Look me in the eyes, anyone who messes with Venezuela will wither and you will wither, stop messing with us” the Chavista leader said during the installation ceremony of the judicial year in Caracas.

In front of Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) judges, who last Friday upheld Machado’s disqualification from running for office until 2036, Maduro responded to criticism from the Ecuadorian president and other countries asking for “free elections” in Venezuela.

“I do not know you, Noboa, you are too young (…) you need to worry about your country, that you do not rule your country, that you have come to open the door of the Southern Command. United States), to hell with it, take care of your country where you have a problem and you don’t know what to do,” he asserted.

The 35-year-old ruler announced on Tuesday that he would not recognize the results of Venezuela’s election, still without a set date. Due to the veto of Machado, who won the opposition primaries with 92.35% of the votes.

Last Saturday, the Ecuadorian government rejected the disqualification of the opposition Chavista, “a decision against the spirit of the Barbados Agreements (signed between the government and the opposition) aimed at facilitating the holding of democratic and transparent elections in Venezuela”, Maduro said.

United States alert

The White House reiterated this Wednesday that the government of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela has until the spring to fulfill its “commitments” to free elections, in which Washington Opposition candidate Maria Corina demands Machado’s authorization.

yesterday, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller announced that “the United States will not be renewing licenses” that provide relief to the oil and gas sector. When it expires on April 18, 2024, he clarified, given the “lack of progress” between the government and the opposition’s unified platform, “especially in terms of allowing all presidential candidates to compete in this year’s elections.” (yo)