Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela Interim President, Responds To 'Anti-Gay' Allegations

If Venezuela's interim president were gay, he would "shout it to the four winds."

Nicolas Maduro, who took over as the nation's interim president after the death of Hugo Chavez on March 5, took to a local television station earlier this week, denying a series of accusations that he is anti-gay.

"When you live in a town you have to be respectful of the private lives of all human beings," he said in the interview, according to translations provided by Blabbeando. "And in terms of sexuality -- what today is known as the concept of the sexually diverse -- they are the same friends we have known all of our lives -- male and female -- from the time we were kids. Because we have always respected them."

When asked what he'd do if he were gay, he said: "I'd take ownership of it with pride and shout it to the four winds and I would have no problem loving whoever I had to love with my heart."

You can read more from the interview on Blabbeando.

Maduro sparked controversy after he appeared to make what's been widely perceived as an anti-gay slur against rival Henrique Capriles earlier this week, Reuters is reporting.

The 50-year-old interim president is said to have deemed Capriles, 40, a "little princess," before declaring, "I do have a wife, you know? I do like women!"