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Venezuela Calls Peruvian Leader 'Coward' and 'Dog'

by Reuters

   CARACAS, VENEZUELA --

   Venezuela's leftist government on Monday called Peruvian President
   Pedro Pablo Kuczynski a "coward" and "dog" servile to the United States
   for his antagonism to socialism.

   Kuczynski, a 78-year-old former Wall Street investment banker who won
   election last year, has been one of the most vocal regional critics of
   Venezuela's ruling "Chavismo" movement, named for late socialist leader
   Hugo Chavez.

   He particularly irked President Nicolas Maduro's government with a
   recent speech in the United States, in which he compared Latin America
   generally to a well-behaved dog on the carpet -- except for Venezuela,
   which was "a big problem."

   Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during an ALBA alliance
   summit to mark fourth anniversary of the death of Venezuela's late
   President Hugo Chavez in Caracas, March 5, 2017.

   Apology requested

   Maduro called for an apology over the weekend. His feisty Foreign
   Minister Delcy Rodriguez followed up with a blistering attack at an
   event honoring Chavez on Monday.

   "He goes round, poor thing, with my respect because he is an elderly
   man, [like] a good dog who wags its tail at the empire and asks for an
   intervention in Venezuela," she said of Kuczynski. "He's alone, going
   round like a crazy man, with no one paying attention."

   Rodriguez also accused the Peruvian leader of insulting Chavez's memory
   during a recent summit in Colombia.

   "I also rose and told him, 'Look, mister, you are a coward, and I
   repeat it here, Mr. Kuczynski. You are a coward who dared to tarnish
   the memory of our commander, Hugo Chavez,'" she said.

   No comment from Peru

   Peru's government offered no immediate response to the remarks.

   With recent moves to the right in Brazil and Argentina as well,
   Venezuela's government has lost support in Latin America, although it
   retains strong links with fellow leftist-led nations Bolivia, Cuba,
   Ecuador and Nicaragua.