CARACAS/ WASHINGTON – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro faces a new round of sanctions, regional leaders said yesterday, after his troops repelled foreign aid convoys, with Brazil branding it criminal and urging allies to join a “liberation effort”.
Troops loyal to Maduro violently drove back aid convoys seeking to enter Venezuela on Saturday, leaving almost 300 wounded in clashes with security forces and at least three protesters dead near the Brazilian border. Juan Guaidó, recognised by most Western nations as Venezuela’s legitimate leader, urged foreign powers to consider “all options” in ousting Maduro, ahead of a meeting of the regional Lima Group of nations in Bogota today that will be attended by United States Vice President Mike Pence.
Pence is set to announce “concrete steps” and “clear actions” at the meeting to address the crisis, a senior United States administration official said yesterday, declining to provide details.
“What happened yesterday is not going to deter us from getting humanitarian aid into Venezuela,” the official said, speaking with reporters on condition of anonymity.
Brazil, a diplomatic heavyweight in Latin America, which has the region’s largest economy, was for years a vocal ally of Venezuela while it was ruled by the leftist Workers Party. It turned sharply against Maduro this year when far-right President Jair Bolsonaro took office.
“Brazil calls on the international community, especially those countries that have not yet recognised Juan Guaidó as interim president, to join in the liberation effort of Venezuela,” the Brazilian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. (Reuters)
PEOPLE THROWING STONES at Venezuelan national guard members at
the border, seen from Pacaraima, Brazil. (Reuters/Ricardo Moraes.)
