Venezuela tells US official to mind her manners

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez speaks to the media during a news conference in Caracas March 9, 2015. CREDIT: REUTERS/CARLOS GARCIA RAWLINS

Venezuela's top diplomat called a senior U.S. official "petulant" and ill-mannered on Wednesday in response to her contention that sanctions were intended to change the government, not topple it.

Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez was responding to State Department Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson's comments explaining a U.S. declaration that Venezuela is a security threat and its sanctioning of seven officials earlier this week.

"In a rude and petulant manner, Mrs. Jacobson tells us what to do," Rodriguez told local TV. "I know her very well because I have seen her personally, her way of walking, chewing. You need manners to deal with people and with countries."

The moves by President Barack Obama's administration have infuriated President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government, which has accused Washington of planning military attacks and wider Cuba-style trade sanctions.

The U.S. government, which endorsed a short-lived 2002 coup against Maduro's predecessor Hugo Chavez, has repeatedly denied it is conspiring.

"The goal of these sanctions is to persuade the government of Venezuela to change its ways, not to remove that government," the State Department's Jacobson tweeted.

The U.S. move is enabling Maduro to play the nationalist card skillfully employed by his charismatic mentor Chavez, whose populist style and focus on social welfare made him hugely popular among the poor for most of his 1999-2013 rule.

Washington's measures have also wrongfooted Venezuela's opposition which, while agreeing with U.S. accusations of rights abuses and corruption, do not want to be associated with outside interference.

The opposition had hoped for a protest vote in its favor at upcoming parliamentary elections. But political analysts believe the U.S. spat may give Maduro a bounce.

Venezuela's allies are supportive, with Cuba mocking the U.S. moves despite its own recent rapprochement with Washington.

"We will respond to this grotesque, illegal, shameless, unheard of and unjustified meddling by the United States," added Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, announcing a meeting on the issue next week of foreign ministers of regional bloc UNASUR, which has generally backed Venezuela's stance.

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