Foreign minister of Venezuela Jorge Arreaza called US President Donald Trump an “arrogant charlatan” and denounced the “interventionist rhetoric" in his State of the Union speech.
In the joint address to Congress on Tuesday, Trump denounced the government in Caracas as an “illegitimate dictatorship” of President Nicolas Maduro and brought his challenger, self-styled "interim president" Juan Guaido as a guest in the gallery.
Trump is scheduled to meet with Guaido on Wednesday and discuss how the US can “expedite a democratic transition in Venezuela,” the White House said. Though the US and 58 other countries recognize Guaido’s claim, in the year since he has failed to attract any support for actually taking power in Caracas.