NEW YORK – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has asked the U.S. government to “rectify its erratic harassment policy” towards his country and claimed he is not anti-American despite his frequent diatribes against the United States.
In comments Tuesday at an appearance at the Hostos Community College in New York City’s Bronx neighborhood, Maduro said that he was attending the UN General Assembly for the first time to “bring the whole truth” about Venezuela. “Our revolution has not collapsed nor is it going to collapse,” Maduro said.
He added that although he initially had doubts about attending the General Assembly, he decided to go ahead after reading critical editorials about his policy in two of the most important U.S. newspapers, The Washington Post and The New York Times.
“‘What a coincidence!’ I thought. They want to hinder my visit to the United Nations. At that time, on Sunday, I was still thinking about whether to come or not,” he said.
“When I read the two editorials, thanks to The Washington Post and The New York Times, I decided: ‘Now I am going. Because one has to tell the entire truth about our country.'”
Maduro claimed that the two opinion pieces showed how the elites of the United States “look down” on Venezuela. “We are not the best nor do we claim to be, but we also cannot accept being sneered at,” he said.
“We know that the entire attack against Venezuela is to try and prevent the hugely popular democratic revolution possessing a deeply Latino identity with (independence leader Simon) Bolivar’s flag and the spirit of (late president) Hugo Chavez from riding into the 21st century and continue consolidating itself,” he stated. Maduro added that Venezuela was experiencing “a revolution hounded by the fatal obsession of those who want to possess the world,” as if it were “a Hollywood movie.”
Responding to questions about political prisoners in Venezuela, Maduro said: “there are quite a lot of political prisoners in the United States, starting with (Puerto Rican nationalist) Oscar Lopez Rivera, the oldest political prisoner in the world, the Mandela of Latin America and the Caribbean.” Continue reading here.
