WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The US Government vowed that it will recognize Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was sworn in for a second term, and pledged support to the country's Opposition.



Having easily won the presidential election boycotted by the Opposition parties in May, the authoritarian Maduro has consolidated his power and assumed office for a second six-year term Thursday.



Major Opposition parties boycotted the election alleging that the electoral system was rigged in favor of the President.



The United States was the first country to react to Maduro's inauguration. 'The US will not recognize the Maduro dictatorship's illegitimate inauguration,' national security advisor John Bolton said on Twitter Thursday.



'We will continue to increase pressure on the corrupt regime, support the democratic National Assembly, and call for democracy and freedom in Venezuela,' he tweeted.



US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on the people of Venezuela not to co-operate with Maduro, but with the Opposition-controlled National Assembly.



'We urge those who support this regime, from everyday employees getting by on food subsidies to the Venezuelan security forces sworn to support the constitution, to stop enabling repression and corruption and to work with the National Assembly and its duly elected leader, Juan Guaido, in accordance with your constitution on a peaceful return to democracy,' Pompeo said in a statement.



In response to the Nicolas Maduro regime's attempt to bypass US economic sanctions by launching a national cryptocurrency, Petro, the Trump administration imposed a fresh round of sanctions targeting Venezuelan government associates in March last year.



Washington alleges that President Maduro decimated the Venezuelan economy and spurred a humanitarian crisis.



Inflation in the socialist nation has spiralled, creating food and medicine shortages, and triggering an exodus of Venezuelans to neighbouring countries. The national currency bolivar lost its value.



It was in this context that the Maduro administration launched the Petro, aiming to ease the country's economic crisis, and circumvent U.S.-led sanctions.



He introduced a currency reform in August, and allocated five billion barrels of oil to back Petro.



But the reforms have not helped Venezuela's economy recover from the pressure of the sanctions, falling oil revenue and the plunging value of its fiat currency.



Late last month, Venezuela filed a complaint against U.S. sanctions before the World Trade Organization.



The Venezuelan National Assembly has declared Petro as illegitimate, but the newly formed Constitutional Assembly, which is loyal to Maduro, had stripped the former of its legislative powers.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX </s> WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is preparing to levy new sanctions on Venezuela, U.S. officials said Monday, in response to a weekend election that gives the South American country’s ruling party virtually unlimited powers.

The officials said the new sanctions could be imposed as early as Monday and will likely target Venezuela’s oil sector, including possibly its state-owned petroleum company. One official said an announcement was imminent. The officials were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The administration imposed sanctions on more than a dozen senior current and former Venezuelan officials last week, warning the socialist government that new penalties would come if President Nicolas Maduro went ahead with Sunday’s election for a constituent assembly.

The assembly will draw up a new constitution that many believe is aimed only at securing Maduro’s increasingly authoritarian rule. On Monday, Venezuela’s government said the election had given it a popular mandate to dramatically recast the political system, despite widespread claims of low voter turnout.

The Trump administration was quick to denounce the vote.

“Maduro’s sham election is another step toward dictatorship,” Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said on Twitter. “We won’t accept an illegit govt. The Venezuelan ppl & democracy will prevail.”

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the new assembly “is designed to replace the legitimately elected National Assembly and undermine the Venezuelan people’s right to self-determination.”

“The United States stands by the people of Venezuela, and their constitutional representatives, in their quest to restore their country to a full and prosperous democracy,” Nauert said in a statement. “We will continue to take strong and swift actions against the architects of authoritarianism in Venezuela, including those who participate in the National Constituent Assembly as a result of (Sunday’s) flawed election.”

Venezuelan electoral authorities said more than 8 million people voted to create the constitutional assembly endowing Maduro’s ruling party with virtually unlimited powers. Independent analysts, though, estimated the real turnout was less than half that figure.

Five days ago, the Treasury Department targeted four senior Venezuelan officials that the U.S. said were promoting that election or undermining democracy in Venezuela. Five others were hit with sanctions after the department accused them of involvement in violence or repression amid the country’s political crisis. Four more Venezuelans linked to Venezuela’s state oil company or other government-run institutions were also penalized.

At the time, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin indicated more penalties could be coming unless Maduro’s government did not call off the election. </s> The United States is imposing sanctions on eight more individuals, including the brother of the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, whom it accuses of undermining democracy in the South American country.

The Treasury Department said seven are current or former Venezuelan government officials. The U.S. says they supported the creation of a constituent assembly that is charged with rewriting Venezuela's constitution and has declared itself superior to all other government institutions.

Chavez's brother Adan — among those targeted — has been appointed secretary of the new assembly.

The U.S. has called the vote to create the assembly illegitimate and a sign that President Nicolas Maduro is trying to strengthen what the U.S. calls his "dictatorship."

The U.S. previously targeted Maduro himself with sanctions, in a rare action against a foreign head of state. </s> Authorities say ten people were killed in clashes between protesters and law enforcement in Venezuela on Sunday. The nation's president, Nicolas Maduro, called elections to choose a constituent assembly, which would have the power to rewrite the constitution, and more.

Many in Venezuela opposed and even boycotted the elections, which they saw as an attempt to consolidate Maduro's power. One in four Venezuelans are unemployed and there are shortages of everything from medicine to toilet paper.

Maduro claimed victory, lashing out at President Donald Trump in the process. Nikki Haley, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, called the Venezuelan election a "sham."

Francisco J. Monaldi, Fellow in Latin American Energy Policy at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy says it is likely that the United States will impose energy-related sanctions on Venezuela this week, beginning with a ban on exports of crude oil products from the U.S. to Venezuela. He says such sanctions will impact Venezuela, but that other sanctions the U.S. could impose, including financial sanctions or a ban on oil imports from Venezuela could have a massive impact on the South American country. </s> WASHINGTON – The United States on Thursday refused to recognise Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's legitimacy as he started a controversial new term and urged rank-and-file government employees to empower the opposition.

"The US will not recognise the Maduro dictatorship's illegitimate inauguration," national security advisor John Bolton tweeted.

"We will continue to increase pressure on the corrupt regime, support the democratic National Assembly, and call for democracy and freedom in Venezuela," he wrote.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on Venezuelans to work not with Maduro but with the National Assembly, which is controlled by the opposition but has been sidelined by a new Constituent Assembly created by Maduro's government.

"We urge those who support this regime, from every day employees getting by on food subsidies to the Venezuelan security forces sworn to support the constitution, to stop enabling repression and corruption and to work with the National Assembly and its duly elected leader, Juan Guaido, in accordance with your constitution on a peaceful return to democracy," Pompeo said in a statement.

"The Venezuelan people and the international community will remember and judge your actions. Now is the time to convince the Maduro dictatorship that the moment has arrived for democracy to return to Venezuela," he said.

"The Secretary reinforced the US commitment to the National Assembly, the only legitimate and last democratically elected institution in Venezuela, and the re-establishment of democracy in Venezuela," spokesperson Robert Palladino added.

Maduro was sworn in for a second six-year term under a cloud of skyrocketing inflation, shortages of basic food and medicine and an exodus of Venezuelans to neighbouring countries, following an election that was boycotted by the opposition.

The Lima Group - a bloc of 14 Latin American powers and Canada - urged Maduro to renounce his term and hand over power to parliament, although Mexico's new leftist government stayed neutral.

The European Union has also said that last year's election was marred by fraud and has extended sanctions.

The United States has for years put pressure on Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chavez, with President Donald Trump publicly musing about military intervention.

On Tuesday, the United States imposed its latest sanctions as it targeted seven Venezuelans allegedly involved in black-market currency exchanges that generated billions of dollars in illicit profits. </s> The Trump administration has placed personal sanctions on Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro in response to Sunday’s fraudulent election designed to further his grip on power.

On Monday, the Trump administration froze assets, banned travel, and prohibited Americans from dealing with Maduro himself in response to Sunday’s vote, in which an estimated 15 percent of the electorate participated according to opposition estimates.

Maduro is now the most senior Venezuelan official to be sanctioned after similar measures were taken against 13 senior Venezuelan officials on grounds of human rights abuses, corruption, and undermining democracy.

The Venezuelan government staged a vote Sunday to elect members of the “national constituents’ assembly,” an unconstitutional entity that Maduro has fabricated to replace the democratically-elected, opposition held National Assembly. The election featured exclusively socialist candidates and attracted global condemnation.

Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin announced the sanctions on Maduro during the White House daily press briefing Monday. In response to a question from Breitbart News, Mnuchin said the government would “consider” sanctions on the Venezuelan military and military-linked officials like Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez and National Assembly minority leader Diosdado Cabello. The Venezuelan military remains key a apparatus for keeping Maduro in power, as the socialist regime regularly uses the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) to attack unarmed protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets. In multiple incidents, GNB soldiers have run over protesters with armored tanks. Maduro has also previously indicated his regime would use arms to defend late leader Hugo Chávez’s “Bolivarian revolution.”

Mnuchin also said the administration would consider sanctions that target the Venezuelan oil industry. The oil industry in Venezuela represents 95 percent of the country’s exports, with the United States accounting for over a half of that figure. As Venezuela’s crude oil is very heavy, the nation relies on the United States and other nations to refine the oil and sell it back to them as gasoline.

In a statement read out at Monday’s press briefing, National Security Advisor General H.R. McMaster reaffirmed American support for the Venezuelan people:

Since President Trump’s inauguration, the Trump administration has called on Venezuela’s Maduro regime to respect the country’s constitution, to respect the role and authorities of the constitutionally established national assembly, hold free and fair elections, address the humanitarian needs of the Venezuelan people, and stop oppressing its great people,” he said. “The regime has refused to heed this call, and his recent actions, culminating in absolute power through the sham election of the national constituent assembly, represents a very serious blow to democracy in our hemisphere. Maduro is not just a bad leader, he is now a dictator.

Following an unofficial referendum earlier this month in which 98 percent of 7 million participants voted against the creation of constituent assembly, Trump himself warned that the United States would “not stand by as Venezuela crumbles” and would impose “strong and swift economic actions” should Maduro push ahead with the power grab.

The country is currently experiencing the worst political and humanitarian crisis in its history. Amid skyrocketing inflation, most Venezuelans can no longer afford basic resources such as water, medicine, and sanitary products. Meanwhile, 125 people have died as a result of anti-government protests that have taken place since March.

You can follow Ben Kew on Facebook, on Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart.com </s> CARACAS: The United States imposed new sanctions on crisis-hit Venezuela on Wednesday, targeting members of a controversial, all-powerful, loyalist assembly installed last week to bolster what Washington calls the “dictatorship” of President Nicolas Maduro.

The measures were aimed at six members of the so-called Constituent Assembly—among them the brother of late president Hugo Chavez—as well as a military officer in charge of security for the body, and a board member of the national electoral authority.

They added to previous US sanctions on Maduro himself—a rare step against a sitting head of state—imposed just before the assembly was elected on July 30 in a vote marred by violence, fraud allegations and an opposition boycott.

“President Maduro swore in this illegitimate Constituent Assembly to further entrench his dictatorship, and continues to tighten his grip on the country,” US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

“This regime’s disregard for the will of the Venezuelan people is unacceptable, and the United States will stand with them in opposition to tyranny until Venezuela is restored to a peaceful and prosperous democracy.”

The Venezuelan government reacted by saying the US was “making a fool of itself in front of the world.”

It “doesn’t respect any criterion, any basic principle of international law,” Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza told state television. “Venezuela can’t be sanctioned for anything, nor by anybody.”

The US announcement came as the Constituent Assembly and Venezuela’s supreme court took actions to limit the opposition’s ability to challenge Maduro.

The assembly has established a “truth commission” which Maduro has said should examine alleged crimes by opposition leaders—especially those in charge of the country’s legislature, which his Socialist Party lost control of two years ago.

Sweeping powers

 The assembly has also fired the attorney general, Luisa Ortega, who broke ranks to become an outspoken critic of the president.

The supreme court ordered the jailing of an opposition mayor who allowed anti-government protests in his Caracas district, and was mulling similar cases against others.

Ostensibly brought in to rewrite the constitution, the Constituent Assembly has sweeping powers to override all other branches of government.

It has vowed to remain in operation for up to two years—beyond the scheduled end of Maduro’s term in 2019.

Those targeted in the US sanctions announced Wednesday included Adan Coromoto Chavez, the brother of the late president who was Maduro’s mentor before he died of cancer in 2013.

The National Electoral Council board member, Tania D’Amelio Cardiet, was designated for defending the assembly and for suspicion of being involved in fraud in its choosing. </s> Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has slammed sanctions imposed by the US government against the South American country for holding a controversial constitutional assembly election amid violent protests.

"You're with Trump or you're with Venezuela, you're with Trump or you're with the democracy, you're with Trump or you're with the free people of the world, that's the decision, you're with Trump or you're with the free world," Maduro said on Monday in a televised speech.

"They are the decisions that express their impotence, their despair, their hatred. They express the character of the magnate, who is emperor of the US."

Maduro also responded to Washington's threat to suspend the National Constituent Assembly (ANC), a body that the President created to rewrite the nation's constitution, saying: "I do not obey imperial orders of foreign governments".

"Trump is more disowned in the US and in the world than (former US President) George W. Bush," who declared himself 'anti-colonialist, anti-racist' and against the Ku Klux Klan that rules the White House," the Venezuelan leader said.

US National Security Adviser Herbert R. McMaster on Monday announced direct sanctions by the US government, including freezing Maduro's assets in Washington and prohibiting American citizens from carrying out economic transactions with the Venezuelan leader.

"Maduro is not just a bad leader. He is now a dictator," said McMaster, adding that Maduro has joined "a very exclusive club", that includes Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who have all been sanctioned by Washington.

The US imposed sanctions in response to the July 30 elections of representatives of the Constituent Assembly that Maduro planned to use to draft a new national charter.

However, the opposition and other social societies criticized the move as a way for Maduro to consolidate a dictatorship in the country.

The US along with other South American nations and the European Union (EU) have said they will not recognise the assembly established from the vote.

The Venezuelan Attorney General said rge July 30 protests against the elections left a total of 10 persons dead, however the opposition alliance Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) said the toll was 14.

The latest victims bring the total death toll from the wave of anti-government protests that began on April 1 to 121 with over thousands others injured.

The government said more than 8 million Venezuelans voted in the July 30 elections. The MUD refused to participate as it considered the vote "fraudulent". </s> WASHINGTON, July 26 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury threatened on Wednesday to impose sanctions on anyone who joins Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's controversial new congress after an election scheduled for Sunday.

"Anyone elected to the National Constituent Assembly should know that their role in undermining democratic processes and institutions in Venezuela could expose them to potential U.S. sanctions,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement announcing sanctions against 13 current and former Venezuelan officials. (Reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
The United States sanctions Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro over the controversial Constitutional Assembly election which critics say is an attempt to establish a dictatorship.