MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

US imposes more sanctions to Maduro's allies; calls on Mexico and Uruguay to recognize Guaidó as president

The new sanctions were announced in Bogota as US Vice President Mike Pence and opposition leader Juan Guaido met with members of the Lima Group

The United States targeted Venezuela's government with new sanctions on Monday and called on allies to freeze the assets of its state-owned oil company PDVSA after deadly violence blocked aid from reaching the crisis-hit country during the weekend.

The United States also took its pressure campaign to the United Nations Security Council, asking that body to discuss the situation in Venezuela, diplomats said.

The US Treasury Department's sanctions were imposed on four Venezuelan state governors allied with the government of embattled President Nicolas Maduro, blocking any assets they control in the United States.

The new sanctions were announced in Bogota as US Vice President Mike Pence and opposition leader Juan Guaido met with members of the Lima Group, a bloc of nations from Argentina to Canada dedicated to peaceful resolution of the Venezuelan crisis.

Pence said the United States would stand by Guaido until freedom was restored to the oil-rich nation. He called for all Lima Group nations to immediately freeze PDVSA's assets and to transfer ownership of Venezuelan assets in their countries from Maduro's “henchmen” to Guaido's government-in-waiting.

He also said tougher measures were coming.

“In the days ahead ... the United States will announce even stronger sanctions on the regime's corrupt financial networks,” Pence said. “We will work with all of you to find every last dollar that they stole and work to return it to Venezuela.”

Guaido, sitting next to Pence at the meeting, asked for a moment of silence for those killed in what he called the “massacre” of the weekend.

At least four people were killed and almost 300 wounded during the protests and clashes on Saturday as US-backed aid convoys attempted to enter Venezuela to deliver food and medicine.

Pence also called for Mexico and Uruguay, two-left leaning regional governments, to join most of the region's other powers in embracing Guaido as Venezuela's rightful president.

Washington wants the 15-member UN Security Council to formally call for free, fair and credible presidential elections with international observers. Russia, which along with China has major investments in Venezuela's energy sector and back Maduro, proposed a rival draft resolution.

Four people have been killed, 58 have suffered bullet wounds and at least 32 arrested in unrest since Friday, local rights group Penal Forum said in a press conference.

The four governors sanctioned by the US Treasury include the flamboyant Rafael Lacava of state of Carabobo, who in 2018 visited Washington as part of talks that led to the release of Joshua Holt, an American who was imprisoned in Venezuela for nearly two years. Lacava goes by the nickname “Dracula” in reference to his habit of doing late-night patrols and is known for off-the-cuff social media videos.