WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Washington announced a couple of measures aimed at adding pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to resign. Vice President Mike Pence said the State Department is revoking 77 visas that belong to officials of the Maduro regime and their families.
US National Security Adviser John Bolton warned that foreign institutions helping to finance the embattled Socialist leader will be hit with sanctions.
Venezuela's Opposition leader Juan Guaidó called on European countries to intensify financial sanctions against the Nicolas Maduro government.
The self-proclaimed interim president has called for mass protests after returning to the crisis-stricken country after a Latin American tour to gather support for his 'crusade' against the authoritarian regime.
Speaking at the Latino Coalition Legislative Summit in Washington Wednesday, Pence said the US Government will 'continue to hold all of the Maduro regime accountable until democracy and libertad (liberty) are fully restored.'
Addressing a gathering of Hispanic business leaders and entrepreneurs based in the US, he said Venezuela was once one of the richest and most vibrant democracies in the Western Hemisphere, but under the socialist rule of 'the dictator', it has become one of the poorest and most despotic.
Today, 9 out of 10 people in Venezuela live in poverty. More than 3 million Venezuelans have already abandoned their homes to flee the brutality and deprivation of the Maduro regime.
The American Vice President said that Maduro is clinging to power with the brutality of his supporters and with the help he receives from communist Cuba. Pence called on all nations to recognize Juan Guaidó as Venezuela's President.
More than 50 countries, including the United States and several members of the European Union, have recognized the opposition leader as Venezuela's interim president.
Separately, in a statement issued by the White House, National Security Adviser John Bolton said the United States is putting foreign financial institutions on notice that they will face sanctions for being involved in facilitating illegitimate transactions that benefit Nicolas Maduro and his corrupt network.
Meanwhile, in an interview to Der Spiegel, Guaido said the international community must prevent Venezuelan money from being misused to kill opponents of the regime and indigenous peoples.
He spoke to the German news weekly a day after Caracas expelled German ambassador to Venezuela, Daniel Kriener, for 'meddling in the country's internal affairs.'
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