President Barack Obama on Monday criticized Venezuela, expressing his “concern over measures that erode the separation of powers,” ahead of elections that are to be held next year.
Over the years, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has been an outspoken opponent of the United States, while expressing solidarity with Iran and Cuba, where he received cancer treatment earlier this year. Chavez is up for re-election in October after 13 years in office.
Obama said Venezuela’s links to Iran and Cuba “have not benefited the interests of Venezuela and its people.” His comments were in response to a written question-and-answer interview for Caracas-based daily El Universal.
He noted that in other Latin American countries, there has been a transition “from living under dictatorships to living in democracies.” However, in Venezuela, there are restrictions on press freedoms, and the government has been eroding “the separation of powers that are so necessary for democracy to flourish.”
“Moreover, it’s unfortunate that the Venezuelan government is often more interested in revisiting the ideological battles of the past than looking forward to the future that we could build for our citizens,” the president added.
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