Caracas, Sep 25 (EFE).- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro deplored the sanctions announced Tuesday by the US Treasury Department against his inner circle, and against his wife Cilia Flores in particular.
“I’ve never seen anything like this. If you want to attack me, go ahead and attack me, but don’t mess with Cilia, don’t mess with my family, don’t be cowards…They issued a decree of sanctions against Cilia, whose only crime is being my wife,” Maduro said during a political event with Colombians living in Venezuela.
In his speech the president said the US imposed these sanctions on her because it wouldn’t get anywhere against him.
“President Maduro relies on his inner circle to maintain his grip on power, as his regime systematically plunders what remains of Venezuela’s wealth. We are continuing to designate loyalists who enable Maduro to solidify his hold on the military and the government while the Venezuelan people suffer,” US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement earlier in the day.
Maduro answered that his wife “is a warrior woman, revolutionary, combative, Bolivarian, anti-imperialist” and for that reason Washington can’t defeat her either.
US sanctions include a supposed front man for National Constituent Assembly Speaker Diosdado Cabello, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez.
“I’m surrounded with sanctions. Thank you Donald Trump for surrounding me with dignity, it’s like a medal of honor here…it shows we’re courageous,” Maduro said.
This Tuesday US President Donald Trump asked in the UN for international support in “calling for the restoration of democracy in Venezuela” because “today, socialism has bankrupted the oil-rich nation and driven its people into abject poverty.”