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Venezuela's Foreign Minister Elias Jaua has accused US Secretary of State John Kerry of
inciting violence and called him a "murderer". Mr Jaua was reacting to comments by Mr Kerry,
who accused Venezuela of waging a "terror campaign against its own people" in its response
to protests. Venezuela has repeatedly accused the US of
orchestrating the unrest, which already left 28 people dead.
The US argues Venezuela is using it as a scapegoat for its domestic problems.
On national television, Mr Jaua said he was not going to "tone down" his rhetoric following
Mr Kerry's strong words on Thursday. "Mr Kerry, we denounce you before the world.
You are inciting violence in Venezuela, and we will denounce it in every part of the world.
We denounce you as a murderer of the Venezuelan people," Mr Jaua said in Caracas.
'Not telling the truth' "Every time we're about to isolate and reduce
the violence, out comes Mr Kerry with a speech and immediately road blocks are reactivated
in the mains spots of violence," he added. While US State Departments' spokeswoman Marie
Harf declined to comment on Mr Jaua's comments, she said the Venezuelan government was "not
telling the truth" about the protests. On Thursday, US Secretary of State John Kerry
also said the Organization of American States (OAS), allies and neighbours should demand
accountability of Venezuela over the protests. "We are trying to find a way to get the [President
Nicolas] Maduro government to end this terror campaign against his own people and to begin
to, hopefully, respect human rights in an appropriate way", Mr Kerry told a committee
in the US Congress. American legislators say they are ready to
impose sanctions on the oil-rich nation, although no decision has yet been taken on the matter.
President Nicolas Maduro, however, offered his American counterpart, Barack Obama, some
advice on Friday.