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Venezuelan government officials have celebrated the sacking of US national security adviser John Bolton , who backed attempts to topple the country’s president Nicolas Maduro .
“He is the one who has lied and done more damage to our people,” tweeted industry minister Tareck El Aissami. “Historical truth has vanquished the demons of war! The future is ours!”
Another official, who refused to be named, welcomed the removal of Mr Bolton by referring to the late president Hugo Chavez ’s preference for a traditional Venezuelan dessert.
“On days like this, the Comandante would treat himself to some sweet papaya,” the official said.
Mr Bolton regularly targeted the Venezuelan government on social media, at one point calling for “Maduro and his cronies to take the offer of an exit before the door closes”.
The Venezuelan president responded by accusing Mr Bolton of personally overseeing the failed attempt to assassinate him using explosive-laden drones in August last year.
In crisis-hit Venezuela, terminally ill children struggle for survivalShow all 22 1 /22In crisis-hit Venezuela, terminally ill children struggle for survival In crisis-hit Venezuela, terminally ill children struggle for survival Yelitza Parra poses with her 7-year-old son Alyeiner Moises in Caracas, Venezuela. Alyeiner has been diagnosed with severe bone marrow aplasia and needs constant treatment and transplants, especially of platelets. Derived from his low defenses, he also suffers from Hepatitis C and Cushing's syndrome
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In crisis-hit Venezuela, terminally ill children struggle for survival Alyeiner was diagnosed at the age of four after routine exams at school. "I had to buy the needles to do the hematology for my son," Yelitza said. She wants the government to pay more attention to the precarious situation of children with terminal illnesses
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In crisis-hit Venezuela, terminally ill children struggle for survival Ines Zarza poses with her 7-year-old daughter Maria Elena. Maria Elena was diagnosed with severe sickle cell disease after a cerebrovascular accident in 2016
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In crisis-hit Venezuela, terminally ill children struggle for survival Maria Elena has to take medicine, which Ines usually gets through donations. They need $2,600 for another test. "I don't even have money to eat, where I am going to find that amount?" Ines says
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In crisis-hit Venezuela, terminally ill children struggle for survival Rosa Colina poses with her 17-year-old daughter Cristina. Cristina has been diagnosed with major thalassemia, systemic lupus erythematosus and Hepatitis C
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In crisis-hit Venezuela, terminally ill children struggle for survival "It is not easy to stand the criticism of people on the street," Cristina says. "In December last year we were walking and a group of young people approached. I heard one say to the other: 'Look, she has AIDS'. That was devastating for me because I don't have AIDS and I'm not going to give it to anyone," Cristina said
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In crisis-hit Venezuela, terminally ill children struggle for survival Jacqueline Sulbarn poses with her 10-year-old son Carlos. Carlos is a survivor of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), but must complete two years of treatment to prevent relapse. ALL is a type of blood and bone marrow cancer that leaves the child unprotected from infections
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In crisis-hit Venezuela, terminally ill children struggle for survival Carlos' treatment has had to be interrupted due to his parent's economic problems. "Sometimes he asks me why he does not have hair, and I tell him it's because his dad wants to see him with the same haircut as him. My husband cut off all his hair too," Jaqueline says. According to the US National Library of Medicine, genetic disorders such as Down syndrome are a high risk factor which can lead to developing ALL.
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In crisis-hit Venezuela, terminally ill children struggle for survival Elsa Murillo poses with her 16-year-old son Miguel Alejandro. Miguel was diagnosed with beta thalassemia in 2007, a genetic severe anemia that forces the adolescent to undergo red blood cell transfusions every three weeks. His illness could be solved with a bone marrow transplant, for which he is on an emergency waiting list that's not going down
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In crisis-hit Venezuela, terminally ill children struggle for survival Despite the added difficulty of living two hours from the capital, the worst part for Elsa is to see her son lose hope: "I get sad when I see that he loses his temper. Sometimes he tells me that he does not want this anymore"
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In crisis-hit Venezuela, terminally ill children struggle for survival Evelline Fernandez poses with her 15-year-old daughter Edenny. Edenny was diagnosed with major thalassemia at the age of one. She hes been receiving blood transfusions since she was seven months old
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In crisis-hit Venezuela, terminally ill children struggle for survival For Eddeny, the most difficult thing is to miss class and her classmates calling her 'chameleon' or 'zombie' because of her skin color, which sometimes changes from her natural tone to yellow. "When she grows up she wants to be a lawyer," says her mother Evelline
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In crisis-hit Venezuela, terminally ill children struggle for survival Verioska Martinez poses with her 14-year-old son Jerson. Jerson has severe bone marrow aplasia, and he is one of the children on the list for an urgent transplant
Miguel Gutierrez/EPA
In crisis-hit Venezuela, terminally ill children struggle for survival "Here in Venezuela he does not have any chances, and his brother is not compatible [for a transplant]. The government told us that they cannot do anything because they owe so much money," says Martinez. She adds: "My children are my life. They know they are my everything. It's not only me, there are lots of mums who need help"
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In crisis-hit Venezuela, terminally ill children struggle for survival Norlisa Aparicio poses with her 16-year-old son Oscar, who has beta thalassemia. "My son's disease manifested at four months old. His bone marrow does not produce red blood cells," Norlisa says. "The illness is more or less manageable but he has been seeking a transplant for 14 years. It is hereditary. I took the risk to have another child in case they could be compatible, but they aren't. My 10-year-old daughter is also a carrier"
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In crisis-hit Venezuela, terminally ill children struggle for survival "The hardest part for me has been learning how the be a mother under this circumstances," says Norlisa. "We started bringing him to he hospital every 21 days thanks to much sacrifice. He has had severe dengue two times, at nine and at eleven years old. I feel helpless lots of times when I don't know what to do. There is no day that I don't speak about my son's need to get a transplant"
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In crisis-hit Venezuela, terminally ill children struggle for survival Zulema Gonzalez poses with her 9-year-old son Juan Manuel. Juan Manuel was diagnosed with anemia when he was six months old, but it turned severe in January 2017 when he suffered a cerebrovascular accident. He suffered another last February.
Miguel Gutierrez/EPA
In crisis-hit Venezuela, terminally ill children struggle for survival 'My son needs a transplant because he has blood transfusions every 21 days," Zulema says. "His blood is B+ and this is the only type he can receive. I have had to buy blood but sometimes I just can't get it and he spends a month without a transfusion. There's no congenital blood here because there are no reagents, and the government has not done anything to solve the problem for children with this condition. Untreated blood means they vomit and get diarrhea. I'd do anything for my child's life, I'd go anywhere. I'm not going to let him die; he is my son"
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In crisis-hit Venezuela, terminally ill children struggle for survival Adriana Avariano poses with her 6-year-old daughter Mariana. Mariana has been diagnosed with Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and is in the first phase of chemotherapy. The protocol, that should last two years, has been extended due to the suspension of chemotherapy sessions - meanwhile, her cancer cells are reproducing
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In crisis-hit Venezuela, terminally ill children struggle for survival "Thank God we do not need a bone marrow transplant," Adriana said. "The day they tell us that it is necessary we are going to have to leave the country, because it is a lie that they are going to help us here. Many children have already died waiting for that transplant"
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In crisis-hit Venezuela, terminally ill children struggle for survival Geraldine Labrador holds a photo of her late son Robert. Robert died at the age of seven of acute Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a few days before this picture was taken
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In crisis-hit Venezuela, terminally ill children struggle for survival '"Doctors told me he was very sick; one of them said that they had to put tubes in him because if he had respiratory failure they did not have the tools to help him. They stabilized his tension, but he went into a respiratory failure at 5am. For 40 minutes doctors were assisting him, until one came up to me and said: 'I do not want to be the last person to see the last breath of your son; you are the one who deserves to be there.' I went in there willing to give my son strength to resist, but in the midst of despair I told the doctors to leave him alone. I was with him, I kissed him a lot, and I decided to take all the tubes off. He did not deserve to suffer any longer"
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“Maduro is likely thinking ‘good riddance’ and that this is sweet revenge for all the macho posturing,” said Chris Sabatini, senior fellow for Latin America at Chatham House in London. ”But that would be a mistake.
“Bolton’s strategy was flawed from the beginning and his departure may pave the way to bring in a more professional, effective diplomat that could be a greater threat to Maduro’s autocracy.”
Donald Trump had previously claimed that his national security adviser wanted to get him “into a war” and questioned his own administration’s aggressive strategy in Venezuela .
Disagreements over how to handle North Korea, Iran , Afghanistan and Russia also led to the president’s decision to dismiss Mr Bolton on Tuesday .
The Iranian government welcomed Mr Bolton’s departure, describing him as “the biggest supporter of war and economic terrorism”.
Spokesman Ali Rabiei added: “John Bolton had promised months ago that Iran would last for another three months. We are still standing and he is gone.”
Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani also signalled his approval of Mr Bolton’s dismissal by urging the US to “put warmongers aside and abandon warmongering and its maximum pressure policy”.
Russia reacted more cautiously to the news. “We don’t have any illusions and we are not cherishing any hopes,” said deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkhov.
Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events “We will judge what may change in the US foreign policy, especially on Russia, only by particular steps, rather than by decisions on staff or moreover statements, because we have heard many of these of late, including in favour of improving relations.”
Mr Trump has appointed Charles Kupperman as acting national security adviser, though there are several other contenders for the permanent role .
Additional reporting by AP and Reuters
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