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| Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro accused of being 'as mad as a goat' | Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro accused of being 'as mad as a goat' |
| (about 17 hours later) | |
| Venezuela’s embattled president Nicolás Maduro is “mad as a goat”, according to Uruguay’s former leader José “Pepe” Mujica. | Venezuela’s embattled president Nicolás Maduro is “mad as a goat”, according to Uruguay’s former leader José “Pepe” Mujica. |
| Mujica’s comments came after Maduro accused the head of the Organization of American States (OAS) of being a “traitor” and CIA agent. | Mujica’s comments came after Maduro accused the head of the Organization of American States (OAS) of being a “traitor” and CIA agent. |
| “They’re all crazy in Venezuela,” Mujica said. “I have great respect for Maduro, but that doesn’t mean I can’t say ‘You’re crazy, you’re as mad as a goat.’” | “They’re all crazy in Venezuela,” Mujica said. “I have great respect for Maduro, but that doesn’t mean I can’t say ‘You’re crazy, you’re as mad as a goat.’” |
| Maduro responded at a party rally on Thursday, telling his supporters: “Yes, I’m mad as a goat, it’s true. “I’m mad with love for Venezuela, for the Bolivarian Revolution, for Chávez and his example.” | |
| Venezuela’s government is grappling with street protests, a shrinking economy, chronic food shortages, and power cuts. Maduro, who says that the country’s problems are caused by rightwingers and foreign plots, has resisted opposition calls for a referendum on his rule. | Venezuela’s government is grappling with street protests, a shrinking economy, chronic food shortages, and power cuts. Maduro, who says that the country’s problems are caused by rightwingers and foreign plots, has resisted opposition calls for a referendum on his rule. |
| Earlier this week the OAS chief Luis Almagro – who previously served as Mujica’s foreign minister – warned the Venezuelan leader that he risked becoming “just another petty dictator”, and called on him to hold the recall referendum. | Earlier this week the OAS chief Luis Almagro – who previously served as Mujica’s foreign minister – warned the Venezuelan leader that he risked becoming “just another petty dictator”, and called on him to hold the recall referendum. |
| Maduro responded to Almagro by denouncing a supposed “media war” against him, and accusing Almagro of being a “longtime traitor”. | |
| Asked about the row on Thursday, Mujica – who is currently a senator in the Uruguayan congress – said: “The problem is trying to solve the economic problem in Venezuela. A country can’t live fighting, Venezuelans have to find a way to solve things between them.” | Asked about the row on Thursday, Mujica – who is currently a senator in the Uruguayan congress – said: “The problem is trying to solve the economic problem in Venezuela. A country can’t live fighting, Venezuelans have to find a way to solve things between them.” |
| Mujica, who ruled Uruguay from 2010 to 2015, refused to live in Uruguay’s presidential palace and lived instead in his own slant-roof three-room ranch 20 minutes outside the capital city of Montevideo. | Mujica, who ruled Uruguay from 2010 to 2015, refused to live in Uruguay’s presidential palace and lived instead in his own slant-roof three-room ranch 20 minutes outside the capital city of Montevideo. |
| But despite his eccentricities, Mujica carried forward a forceful progressive agenda, making Uruguay the first South American nation to legalize abortion and the first country in the world to legalize the sale of marijuana.Venezuela meanwhile is suffering a deep economic crisis and the world’s highest inflation rate. Opposition marches during the last few days have demanded Maduro’s resignation, while food and medicine scarcities have become chronic. | But despite his eccentricities, Mujica carried forward a forceful progressive agenda, making Uruguay the first South American nation to legalize abortion and the first country in the world to legalize the sale of marijuana.Venezuela meanwhile is suffering a deep economic crisis and the world’s highest inflation rate. Opposition marches during the last few days have demanded Maduro’s resignation, while food and medicine scarcities have become chronic. |
| This was not the first time the plain-spoken Uruguayan has disparaged a serving South American president. In April 2013, Mujica was caught on an open microphone describing Argentina’s then-president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. | This was not the first time the plain-spoken Uruguayan has disparaged a serving South American president. In April 2013, Mujica was caught on an open microphone describing Argentina’s then-president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. |
| “The old woman is worse than the one-eyed guy,” Mujica said, referring to Fernández’s husband and predecessor in office Néstor Kirchner who strabismus resulting in a misaligned eye. | “The old woman is worse than the one-eyed guy,” Mujica said, referring to Fernández’s husband and predecessor in office Néstor Kirchner who strabismus resulting in a misaligned eye. |
| “He was was more political, this one is stubborn,” Mujica said. | “He was was more political, this one is stubborn,” Mujica said. |