Trump's secretary of state calls Jeremy Corbyn 'disgusting' for supporting Venezuela's Maduro

Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, has attacked Jeremy Corbyn over his ”disgusting” support for Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro.

The close ally of Donald Trump hit out at the Labour leader during a visit to London, saying “no leader in a country with western democratic values” should offer support to a regime “that has created so much devastation”.

Mr Corbyn has often spoken in support of Venezuela‘s socialist leaders and criticised international sanctions against the country’s government.

Asked about Mr Corbyn’s defence of Mr Maduro during a joint press conference with foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, Mr Pompeo said: “It is disgusting to see leaders in not only the United Kingdom but in the United States as well who continue to support the murderous dictator Maduro.

“It is not in either of our countries’ best interests for those people to continue to advocate on their behalf.”

He said the Venezuelan president was on “borrowed time” and condemned “American leaders or leaders from this country [who] continue to provide support and comfort to a regime that has created so much devastation, so much destruction”.

He added: “No leader in a country with western democratic values ought to stand behind [Mr Maduro].”

During the press conference, Mr Pompeo also:

* Suggested defence cooperation with the US would be put at risk if the UK gave Huawei a role in operating its 5G infrastructure – saying: “We are making our views very well known.”

Mr Pompeo said the US had “an obligation” to ensure its information, where there were security risks, was “inside trusted networks”, adding: “And that’s what we will do.”

* Cited Winston Churchill in defending pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal, saying the wartime leader had also “stared evil in the face and recognised the threat that evil presented to the entire world”.

On Iran, he insisted: “We’re on the same side, we’re on the side of values-driven democracy, we’re on the side of freedom, we’re on the side of creating a nation for the Iranian people.”

* Urged the UK and other US allies to take back foreign fighters detained in Syria following the collapse of Isis, arguing that was “essential”.

“We’ve rounded them up, they are now detained and they need to continue to be detained so they cannot present additional risk to anyone anywhere in the world,” Mr Pompeo said.

Speaking immediately afterwards, Mr Hunt suggested that Labour’s support for the Venezuelan government was evidence of its vision for the UK, quoting shadow chancellor John McDonnell’s claim, made in 2014, that the South American country was an example of “socialism in action”.

Mr Hunt said: “This is a country where 3 million people have fled the country, GDP has gone down by 40 per cent in the last four years, people can’t access basic medicine, people are rifling through rubbish bags to get food in the streets.

“John McDonnell describes this as socialism in action and I think people need to draw their own conclusions about what his own plans might be for the UK.”

Earlier this year, Mr Corbyn criticised the UK government’s calls for further sanctions against Mr Maduro, who is blamed for crippling Venezuela’s economy and triggering widespread food shortages in the country.

The Labour leader said: “The future of Venezuela is a matter for Venezuelans. Jeremy Hunt’s call for more sanctions on Venezuela is wrong. We oppose outside interference in Venezuela, whether from the US or anywhere else.

“There needs to be dialogue and a negotiated settlement to overcome the crisis.”

Mr Maduro has fought to maintain his grip on power despite countries including the UK, US, Canada, France and Spain formally recognising Juan Guaido, president of Venezuela’s national assembly, as the country’s interim president.

Responding to Mr Pompeo’s comments, a Labour spokesperson said: “We oppose outside interference in Venezuela, whether from the US or anywhere else. The future of Venezuela is a matter for Venezuelans.”