BREAKING: Reuters: Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez Dead: Vice-President Maduro

You’ve seen the breaking headlines, on a story which was first reported by Reuters. But where do our relations with Venezuela  stand in the wake of their strongman Chavez’s passing? It’s a good question, and Independent Journal Review answers it this way:

….[R]ecall that in December, President Obama told Univision that, “The most important thing is to remember that the future of Venezuela should be in the hands of the Venezuelan people. We’ve seen from Chavez in the past authoritarian policies, suppression of dissent.” Needless to say, that was not taken well.

The Venezuelan government responded by saying, “With these despicable comments at such a delicate moment for Venezuela, the U.S. president is responsible for a major deterioration in bilateral relations, proving the continuity of his policy of aggression and disrespect towards our country.”

H/T IJReview.com