Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolás Maduro replied to the accusations US President George W. Bush launched Wednesday against his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chávez during an address before the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Washington.

According to Maduro, Bush's remarks are a direct consequence of the results obtained in the Rio Group Summit, held in Santo Domingo last March 7.

"The US government took 72 hours to react to the Santo Domingo meeting; they remained quiet while Latin America and the world hailed the results and acknowledged the role of Hugo Chávez, (Argentinean President) Cristina (Fernández), (Nicaraguan President) Daniel Ortega and (Ecuadorian President Rafael) Correa," Maduro told Venezuelan official television network VTV.

For Maduro, the US ruler's speech results from "despair, helplessness" and "bitterness because he has been unable to revert the winds of change" in the continent.