CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuela rejected President Donald Trump’s call to halt a rewriting of the constitution that would consolidate the power of the socialist government, which said Tuesday that it is reviewing its relations with the United States in response to Trump’s threat of sanctions.
“No foreign government controls Venezuela,” President Nicolas Maduro told a nationally televised meeting of his National Defense Council, an emergency body he convened Tuesday in reaction to Trump’s critiques. “Here in Venezuela, Venezuelans give the orders, not Trump.”
Trump threatened on Monday to take unspecified “economic actions” if Maduro goes ahead with a July 30 vote on a constituent assembly to retool the constitution. Maduro’s socialist supporters want the assembly to grant him more power over the few institutions still outside the control of his ruling party.
Foreign Minister Samuel Moncada said on state television that the election of assembly members will take place as planned and that Maduro has asked him to reconsider Venezuela’s diplomatic relations with the U.S.
“The constitutional assembly is happening,” Moncada said, adding that Venezuela is “conducting a deep review of relations with the U.S. government because we don’t accept humiliation from anyone.”