Venezuelan FM Apologizes to Gay Community

HAVANA TIMES, April 18 — After using a homophobic adjective against an opposition candidate, Venezuela Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro reiterated on Tuesday that the national government and he himself personally do in fact respect sexual diversity in the country, reported Noticias 24.

“Based on our Constitution and for all times, we respect the sexually diverse community (…) There’s no need for me to involve myself with anyone’s sexual status, not those of our adversaries, or the opposition candidates or their leaders,” the minister added.

Apologizing, the foreign minister made amends with the LGBTI community, which had harshly criticized Maduro for calling opposition candidate Henrique Capriles a “mariconson” (“a big fairy”) on April 12 at a public event.