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LONDON -- Speaking during a joint press conference with British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt Wednesday afternoon, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo slammed foreign and domestic leaders who continue to support dictator Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.
“It is disgusting to see leaders in not only the United Kingdom, but the United States as well, who continue to support the murderous dictator Maduro. It is not in either of our country’s best interests for either of those leaders to advocate on [his] behalf. The Venezuelan people have spoken through their constitutional mechanism they have put Juan Guaido as their interim president,” Pompeo said in response to a question from Townhall.
“He is the duly elected leader and Maduro is on borrowed time. To see American leaders or leaders from this country continue to provide support and comfort to a regime that has created so much devastation, so much destruction," Pompeo continued. "I was in Colombia, I saw those families who had to make choices about whether to feed their children on even days or odd days. That is a direct results of Nicolas Maduro and no leaders with western democratic values ought to stand behind him.”
In the UK, Labour Leader Jeremy Corbin endorsed Maduro and supports his regime. Foreign Minister Hunt and the British government officially back Guiado, along with a number of free European countries.
“This is a country where three million people have fled the country. GDP has gone down by 40 percent in the last four years. People cannot access basic medicine. People are rifling through rubbish bags to get food in the streets, “ Foreign Minister Hunt said when asked about Corbyn’s endorsement. “This is socialism in action and I think people need to draw their own conclusions about [unintelligible] for the UK.”
During Pompeo’s visit to the UK, he held multiple meetings with Foreign Minister Hunt on a variety of issues, including the importance of religious freedom, Iran and Brexit. Before landing, Pompeo made a surprise visit to Baghdad.