BACKGROUND IMAGE: French President Emmanuel Macron gives a press conference at Senningen Castle in Luxembourg, on August 29, 2017. AFP/Christian Liewig; SUPERIMPOSED IMAGE: The flag of Venezuela

 

CARACAS: Venezuela accused French President Emmanuel Macron Wednesday of "interference" in its affairs after he said President Nicolas Maduro had created a "dictatorship" in the crisis-hit country.

Macron's claim in a speech Tuesday was one of the harshest condemnations yet of the South American regime by a European leader.

Venezuela's foreign ministry expressed its "firm rejection of the deplorable comments" by Macron.

"They constitute clear interference in the internal affairs" of Venezuela, it said in a statement.

"They are an assault on Venezuela's institutions and appear driven by the constant imperial obsession with attacking our people."

Maduro has overseen the creation of a new all-powerful loyalist national assembly, a clampdown on the independent media and the sacking of the country's top justice official.

Clashes during protests against his rule claimed 125 lives this year, according to prosecutors.