Maduro Gov't 'Repudiates' Obama Remarks on Venezuela Violence

Venezuela's government said Thursday it "emphatically repudiates" U.S. President Barack Obama's condemnation of the violent unrest in the South American country.

In a statement, the foreign ministry said Obama's remarks on Wednesday in Mexico "constitute a new and crude interference in the internal affairs of our country."

The government "emphatically repudiates the statements" made by Obama, insisting his remarks were based on false information.

The statement came after a night of violent confrontations in which police and government troops used tear gas and buckshot to clear protesters from the streets of Caracas.

Students have taken to the streets in the capital and other cities for just over two weeks to protest rampant crime, student arrests and deteriorating economic conditions.

At a summit with the leaders of Mexico and Canada, Obama called on Venezuela to release protesters detained in the demonstrations and to address the "legitimate grievances" of its people.

Speaking about unrest in Venezuela and Ukraine, Obama denounced the "unacceptable violence in those two countries which the United States strongly condemns."

Obama also alluded to Venezuela's expulsion of three U.S. diplomats, accusing the government of President Nicolas Maduro of "trying to distract from its own failings by making up false accusations against diplomats from the United States."