Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil said the United States was interfering "in matters that do not concern them" in response to criticism over new arrests of activists linked to the opposition campaign this week.
Gil posted a short statement on his X account, formerly Twitter, in response to a message released by the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Brian Nichols, in which he rejected the detentions of activists as the presidential elections get close.
"The latest detentions and ongoing harassment of members of Venezuela's democratic opposition are deeply concerning developments in the run up to the July 28 presidential election," the U.S. diplomat wrote. "Venezuelan candidates & activists should be allowed to campaign peacefully & free from intimidation."
"Mr. Nichols returns with his vulgar obsession to insult Venezuelans by interfering in matters that do not concern him," the Venezuelan Foreign Minister replied.
"It seems that the defeat painted on the foreheads of his puppets is causing him more pain than ever. His attempts to interfere in our process will be as effective as the policies of his government: A resounding failure! They haven't succeeded and they never will," Gil added.
"Our recommendation is that he start drafting an article to publish when he has to console himself with the collapse of the extreme right that he promotes," he said later.
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who is supporting the candidacy of Edmundo Gonzáles Urrutia after being barred from running, said on Tuesday that 37 activists have been "arbitrarily detained" so far this year.
She told the press that two of her aides were detained Monday near her campaign headquarters in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, when they stopped to buy lunch.
In March, the United Nations' International Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela (FFM) warned that on the doors of 2024's elections Maduro's government has entered "a reactivation of the most violent form of repression."
The president of the UN mission, Marta Valiñas, said that there are "serious difficulties in ensuring that the upcoming presidential elections proceed in accordance with the right to participate in public affairs as outlined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights."
Moreover, the Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE) revoked the invitation to the European Union to send observers to the electoral process, which some see as a sign that the elections are unlikely to be fair and competitive.
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