Sen. Bernie Sanders refused to call Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro a "dictator," even though he criticized his government for failing to hold democratic elections.
Speaking at a CNN town hall in Washington on Monday night, Sanders said in response to host Wolf Blitzer’s question as to why he would not call Maduro a dictator, "It's fair to say the last election was undemocratic, but there are still democratic operations taking place in that country.
Sanders added that "What I am calling for right now is internationally supervised free elections” and an “international humanitarian effort to improve lives for the people.”
Venezuela is in a state of upheaval after Maduro's re-election in May 2018 was boycotted by many eligible voters. Opposition leader Juan Guaido was named president of the National Assembly last month and then declared himself acting president. The White House and other Western countries have since recognized him as the nation’s legitimate leader.
Sanders warned against the "unintended consequences" of foreign intervention when “a powerful nation goes in and tells their people who their government will be.”
He added that "I'm old enough to remember the war in Vietnam. I am very fearful of the United States continuing to do what it has done in the past -- the United States overthrew a democratically elected government in Chile, and in Brazil, and in Guatemala."
Sanders also accused President Donald Trump of being selective, saying he is concerned about democracy in Venezuela and not, for instance, in Saudi Arabia, contrasting that to the senator’s concern about democracy all over the world.
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