Venezuelan President Maduro: 'Why are they sanctioning me?
Caracas, Venezuela (CNN)Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro lashed out at the United States on Monday night after President Trump called him a "dictator" and US officials slapped the leader with sanctions over a controversial election.
"You are either with Trump or you are with Venezuela. You are either with Trump or with democracy," Maduro told Venezuelans as he received the first official results from Sunday's election establishing a new legislative body made up entirely of his supporters.
Maduro said Trump is "making the biggest mistake of his life in messing" with the country.
Earlier, US national security adviser H.R. McMaster said Maduro "joins a very exclusive club," comparing him to leaders such as Syria's Bashar al-Assad and North Korea's Kim Jong Un. The sanctions by the US Treasury Department froze Maduro's assets subject to US jurisdiction and barred US citizens from dealing with him.
The sanctions sent a clear signal of the Trump administration's opposition to Maduro's regime.
"Why are they sanctioning me? Because I don't comply with foreign governments? Because I don't wag my tail and am not a stray dog?" Maduro said.
Maduro's comments came hours after Venezuela's attorney general lambasted the election.
"This is the end of freedom of expression, and this freedom has been battered for some time now," Attorney General Luisa Ortega said Monday.
"This is a smokescreen to hide the corruption and crisis that Venezuela faces. But they will have to climb over the institution that I represent, the people of Venezuela and our constitution."
But that constitution is now in jeopardy.
Maduro declared a victory in a vote that much of the world -- and many of his own citizens -- have called a sham and an assault on democracy.
The election could replace the current legislative body, the National Assembly, with a new, 545-member Constituent Assembly, all nominated by his administration.
The new, pro-Maduro assembly will have the power to rewrite Venezuela's constitution.
"We have a Constituent Assembly. I said, come hell or high water-- and hell and high water came -- and the Constituent Assembly arrived from the hand of the people, from its conscience," Maduro said.
Maduro argued that the Constituent Assembly will help bring peace to a polarized country, with all branches of the government falling under the political movement founded by his late mentor and predecessor, Hugo Chavez.
But the opposition boycotted the election, calling it fraudulent, and saying the Constituent Assembly will erode democracy.
Venezuela's political crisis explained
The US State Department said the elections were "designed to replace the legitimately elected National Assembly and undermine the Venezuelan people's right to self-determination."
Ortega, the country's attorney general, said she "will not tolerate this and will not stand down. I will continue to be vocal about human rights abuses."
Earlier this year, Ortega had her assets frozen and was ordered not to leave the country, but she has managed to stay in power.
"This is why they want to get rid of me," she said. "I am bothersome for those involved in corruption."
Turnout disputed
Venezuela's National Electoral Council said more than 8 million people, about 41.53% of registered voters, cast ballots Sunday. That marked "the biggest turnout that the Bolivarian Revolution has had in its entire 18-year history," Maduro claimed.
But National Assembly President Julio Borges tweeted that the claim of 8 million voters was almost triple the actual turnout and marked "the biggest electoral fraud in our history."
The National Electoral Council hasn't announced the formal results, but since the opposition boycotted the election and didn't put up any candidates of its own, a victory for Maduro's side is guaranteed.
On top of that, first lady Cilia Flores and pro-Maduro former Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez both received enough votes to become members of the Constituent Assembly.
Key opposition figure and Miranda state Gov. Henrique Capriles said voter participation Sunday was less than 15%. He claimed voter turnout was three times higher two weeks ago for an opposition-led, nonbinding referendum against Maduro's proposed Constituent Assembly.
On July 16, more than 7 million Venezuelans cast ballots in an unofficial vote against Maduro's Constituent Assembly. Maduro ignored the results of the vote.