Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., railed against the Trump administration's strikes in Caracas and capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, but he has a history of lauding communist and socialist strongmen. (Aaron Schwartz/Getty Images)
But the lawmaker’s decision to call Maduro a dictator is a shift. In previous years, Sanders has declined to place that label on him.
When Sanders was on the presidential campaign trail in 2019, he opted not to call Maduro a dictator, instead saying he would support an effort to ensure free and fair elections in the country.
"I think it’s fair to say that the last election was undemocratic, but there are still Democratic operations taking place in that country," Sanders said during a town hall at the time. "The point is, what I’m calling for right now is an internationally supervised fair election."
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Fidel Castro observes the May Day parade at Revolution Square in Havana, Cuba, May 1, 1998. (Sven Creutzmann/Mambo Photography/Getty Images)
The lawmaker has also been supportive of policies under former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. During his last presidential run, Sanders came under fire after a speech he made in the 1980s when he lauded the socialist policies installed by Castro and his regime.
Sanders was pressed on the speech during another town hall event on the campaign trail, where he noted that he had been consistently critical of authoritarian regimes across the globe.
Still, he contended that "there were a lot of folks in Cuba at that point who were illiterate. He formed the literacy brigade."
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"You know what, I think teaching people to read and write is a good thing," Sanders said.
Fox News Digital did not immediately hear back from Sanders' office for comment.
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/sanders-slams-trumps-venezuela-strike-after-years-soft-rhetoric-socialist-strongmen