Secretary Pompeo Thanks Jamaica Leader For Backing US On Venezuela - State Department

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd January, 2020) US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo praised during a press conference Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness for supporting the United States' efforts to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, according to a State Department transcript of the event.

"I want to commend the prime minister for standing up to the illegitimate, destabilizing Maduro dictatorship and its brutal repression of the Venezuelan people," Pompeo said.

Pompeo added: "I know this hasn't been easy, but I applaud his leadership, and we will keep working together to help the Venezuelan people have a democratic nation with free and fair elections and a return to prosperity that the Venezuelan people so richly deserve.

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The US policy of opposition to Maduro shifted to one of regime change in early 2019, when the Trump administration formally backed opposition leader and self-declared interim president Juan Guaido.

The United States won support from many Latin American and some European nations, however the effort to oust Maduro has since stalled with Maduro retaining support from the nation's military and from numerous nations with significant economic ties to Venezuela, including Russia, China, Turkey and Cuba.

Venezuela has suffered from crippling US economic sanctions imposed in an effort to force Maduro out of office.