Pence slams Venezuela government, drawing rebuke from Maduro

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence held up Venezuela on Thursday as a prime example of what happens when democracy is undermined and urged Latin American leaders to condemn its government, in comments that Venezuela's president called nauseating. Already suffering a severe economic crisis, Venezuela, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, has recently been convulsed by clashes between security forces and anti-government protesters. "We need only look to the nation of Venezuela to see what happens when democracy is undermined," Pence told the gathering of leaders in Miami. "That once-rich nation's collapse into authoritarianism has pushed it into poverty and caused untold suffering for the Venezuelan people." More…