Venezuela fury at Mercosur suspension

CARACAS: Venezuela angrily rejected as a “coup” its suspension from South American economic bloc Mercosur on Friday, the harshest international punishment yet for President Nicolas Maduro’s crisis-racked government.

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay announced Venezuela was suspended from the group after accusations that the leftist government in Caracas failed to meet democratic and trade standards.

“This is a coup d’etat to Mercosur and constitutes a very grave attack on Venezuela,” Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez (pictured) told the media.

Earlier, she railed against the decision in a tweet storm, calling it a “null and void action sustained by the law of the jungle of some officials who are destroying Mercosur.”

Although Venezuela joined Mercosur in 2012, the other members complain it has yet to ratify a number of rules governing trade, politics, democracy and human rights.

Venezuela’s neighbours are also becoming increasingly wary of developments in the once-booming oil exporter.

Maduro’s critics blame him for an economic meltdown marked by food shortages, riots and looting.

The opposition also accuses the deeply unpopular president of trampling on democracy by throwing its leaders in jail and blocking its efforts to remove him constitutionally.

Venezuela has been hit hard by the plunge in global prices for its crucial crude oil exports since mid-2014, pummelling the government’s socialist economic model.