Washington: The future of Venezuela has to be decided by the people of the country and the US has no role to play in it, a State Department spokesperson said on Thursday.
"Venezuela`s future has to be decided by the Venezuelan people. I think what I said got blown out of proportion there," State Department spokesperson, Victoria Nuland, told reporters at her daily news conference in an effort to clarify her earlier remarks from the podium that has kicked off a storm in Venezuela, ruled by anti-US leader Hugo Chavez.
"The only point I was trying to make was the following: Should President Chavez become permanently unavailable to serve, the Venezuelan Constitution, at that moment, requires an election to select a new president. If those conditions come to apply, we hope that the Venezuelan Constitution will be respected," she said.
"We are simply stating our understanding of what Venezuela`s own Constitution has to say. That`s a different matter than the question of whether the President is able to serve out his term," Nuland said in response to a question.
PTI
