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WASHINGTON — Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York City faced widespread mockery after mistakenly stating that Venezuela is “below the equator” during an attempt to showcase her foreign-policy knowledge in Germany.
While Venezuela is actually located just above the equator, the Democratic socialist, who studied international relations at Boston University, made this notable blunder while addressing an audience at a panel discussion at the Technical University of Berlin on Sunday.
During her speech, Ocasio-Cortez criticized Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, remarking, “Maduro canceled elections. He was an anti-democratic leader,” referencing elections under Maduro’s regime that were widely condemned as fraudulent by international observers.
Ocasio-Cortez further commented, “That doesn’t mean that we can kidnap a head of state and engage in acts of war just because the nation is below the equator,” alluding to the Trump administration’s recent capture of the dictator and its military actions against suspected drug trafficking operations in the area.
The congresswoman, who represents the Bronx and Queens, traveled to Germany last week to participate in discussions at the Munich Security Conference. This move is largely perceived as an effort to bolster her foreign-policy credentials in anticipation of a potential presidential or Senate bid in 2028.
Her foreign-policy stance emphasizes that the global south often suffers exploitation by powerful nations that disregard international norms, infringing on the sovereignty of weaker countries.
Critics, particularly on the right, wasted little time skewering Ocasio-Cortez over her Venezuelan “equator” fumble.
“Whatâs worse is the woke white liberals in Germany felt compelled to clap for her,” US Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), chided on X. “Wokeness is truly a mind virus.”
Another user swiped, “Pronouncing ‘Venezuela’ and ‘Maduro’ in an accent she definitely doesnât have is among the many accidentally funny things AOC does while desperately trying to come off as a serious person.”
Conservative pundit Nick Sortor wrote, “AOC has AGAIN made a fool out of herself on stage saying that we canât capture leaders like Maduro in Venezuela ‘just because the nation is south of the equator’ NONE of Venezuela is south of the equator PLEASE run in 2028, AOC.”
Independent journalist Glenn Greenwald also jabbed, “Whoever convinced AOC that she had successfully completed her tutoring and was now ready to give book reports about foreign policy in public really should look for another line of work.
“Unless the goal was to sabotage her. In which case: kudos for a job well done.”
A few of Ocasio-Cortez’s allies leapt to her defense.
“All I see on my timeline is a bunch of Republicans and legacy media reporters parsing every quote and comment from AOC in Germany, trying to mock them for incoherence or inaccuracy,” wrote lefty pundit Mehdi Hasan, CEO of Zeteo News.
“Meanwhile a ranting demented old man who canât string sentences together, stay awake, or identify Germany on a map sits in the Oval Office.”
Given the 2028 undertones of Ocasio-Cortez’s visit, her stint at the Munich Security Conference was closely watched to see how she fared on foreign-policy issues.
Outside of her commentary on the Israel-Hamas war, Ocasio-Cortez has seldom weighed in on hot-button foreign issues, leading skeptics to accuse her of being untested in that area.
But a series of stumbles besides the equator faux pas, such as her sputtering over a question about what the US should do if China invades Taiwan, and struggling to articulate the biggest change Trump made to American foreign policy, fed fodder to critics.
Much of her core message revolved around the idea that countries need to focus on elevating the working class in their domestic politics to “stave off the scourges of authoritarianism.”
Ocasio-Cortez is currently polling in fourth place, with 7.5% support, among speculated 2028 Democratic presidential contenders, according to the latest RealClearPolitics polling aggregate.
Other speculated 2028 Democratic hopefuls, such as Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who previously attended the World Economic Forum, attended the Munich Security Conference.
