CARACAS, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elias Jaua on Tuesday accused the United States of interfering in his country's internal affairs.
Respect for Venezuela's sovereignty is a precondition to the normalization of relations with the United States, Jaua told reporters following a ministerial meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.
"In the United States, they still do not understand that... they need to stop interfering in Venezuela's internal affairs and to respect Venezuela's sovereign decisions," said Jaua.
Jaua said Washington gave tacit support to the leader of Venezuela's right-ring opposition, who refuses to recognize Nicolas Maduro's victory in the presidential election.
Jaua also described as an "attack" the U.S. government's response to Venezuela's decision to offer political asylum to Edward Snowden, who uncovered Washington's secret global surveillance program.
The latest disagreement between the two nations revolves around statements made by U.S. diplomat Samantha Power, who is expected to become the next American ambassador to the United Nations.
Power said last week that if appointed to the UN, she will fight against "repression" in Cuba, Iran, Russia and Venezuela.
President Maduro formally protested her statement and asked his U.S. counterpart, Barack Obama, to rectify the "harsh, unfair, aggressive and slanderous" statement.
Relations between the two nations have been frozen since December 2010 when then President Hugo Chavez refused to accept Larry Palmer as U.S. ambassador to Venezuela. In retaliation, Washington expelled the Venezuelan ambassador to the United States. They have not exchanged ambassadors since.
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