Maduro hails Ramotar as ‘extraordinary Caribbean man’

Nicolas Maduro, who was sworn in to act as President of Venezuela by the National Assembly on Friday night, has hailed President Donald Ramotar as “an extraordinary man of the Caribbean”, according to the local Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

A press release issued by the ministry yesterday quoted Maduro as saying “Some-thing really significant, we want to highlight is the presence in this room of an extraordinary man of the Caribbean and from a country with which others want us to establish a feeling of hatred between our people and their people”.

Maduro who was the country’s vice-president was sworn in following the death of President Hugo Chavez last week. Chavez, while fighting cancer, had named Maduro as his successor.

Maduro is pushing to have an early date for snap elections.

The press release further quoted Maduro as saying that Chavez changed the foreign policy of Venezuela, “which now resolves our outstanding issues based on brotherhood and not hatred and war, which was the wish of the oligarchies and imperialists.

Here is the President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana Donald Ramotar. Thank you very much for coming.”