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> Venezeula has announced it will be pegging its economy to a national cryptocurrency as it looks to save itself from economic ruin.

The crisis-hit South American country, which recently saw its hyper-inflation grow to more than 1,000,000 per cent, has announced it will be tying the bolivar to the government's own petro cryptocurrency.

As part of the move, the bolivar will be devalued 96 per cent, from 285,000 to the dollar to six million. In addition, corporate tax rates will go up, as will the minimum wage. Overall, Venezuela hopes that wages, pensions and prices will all be pegged to the new currency.

Announcing the news, President Nicolas Maduro said that the new "sovereign bolivar" would help the country to bounce back from its recent hardships, which he has blamed on the United States.

"I want the country to recover and I have the formula. Trust me," Maduro said on state television. "They've dollarized our prices. I am petrolising salaries and petrolising prices.

"We are going to convert the petro into the reference that pegs the entire economy's movements."

Venezeula launched its cryptocurrenncy back in February as it looked to raise cash. At the launch, President Maduro said that around 100 million petro tokens would be issued, each of which would be backed by a barrel of the nation's vast oil reserves.

However many observers warned the scheme could be a scam, with US President Donald Trump quickly signing an executive order banning Americans from investing.
• What is blockchain? Everything you need to know </s> Maduro launches new currency with five zeroes less but the same misery for the people

Uncertainty reigned in Venezuela after President Nicolas Maduro unveiled a major economic reform plan aimed at halting the spiraling hyperinflation that has thrown the oil-rich, cash-poor country into chaos. Ahead of a major currency overhaul on Monday, when Caracas will start issuing new banknotes after slashing five zeroes off the crippled Bolívar, Maduro detailed other measures he hopes will pull Venezuela out of crisis.

Those measures – revealed in a speech to the nation – include a massive minimum wage hike, the fifth so far this year. But analysts say the radical overhaul could only serve to make matters worse.

“There will be a lot of confusion in the next few days, for consumers and the private sector,” said the director of the Ecoanalitica consultancy, Asdrubal Oliveros.

Three of the country’s leading opposition groups – Primero Justicia, Voluntad Popular and Causa R – have rejected the reform plan and called for a day of protest on Tuesday.

The embattled Maduro, a former bus driver and union leader, said the country needed to show “fiscal discipline” and stop the excessive money printing that has been regular in recent years.

The new currency, the sovereign Bolívar – to distinguish from the current, and ironically named, strong Bolívar – will be anchored to the country’s widely discredited cryptocurrency, the Petro.

Each Petro will be worth about US$60, based on the price of a barrel of Venezuela’s oil. In the new currency, that will be 3,600 sovereign Bolívar – signaling a massive devaluation.

In turn, the minimum wage will be fixed at half a Petro (1,800 sovereign Bolívar), starting Monday. That is about US$ 28 – more than 34 times the previous level of less than a dollar at the prevailing black market rate.

Maduro also said the country would have one fluctuating official exchange rate, also anchored to the Petro, without saying what the starting level would be.

As it stands, the monthly minimum wage – devastated by inflation and the aggressive devaluation of the Bolívar – is still not enough to buy a kilo of meat. In the capital Caracas, residents were skeptical about the new measures.

The International Monetary Fund predicts inflation will hit a staggering one million per cent this year in Venezuela – now in a fourth year of recession, hamstrung by shortages of basic goods, and crippled by paralyzed public services.

Maduro blames the country’s financial woes on opposition “plots” and American sanctions – but admits that the government will “learn as we go along” when it comes to the currency redenomination.

“Don’t pay attention to naysayers,” Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez said. “With oil income, with taxes and income from gasoline price hikes … we’ll be able to fund our programme.”

Electronic transactions were to be suspended from Sunday to facilitate the introduction of the new notes.

Oil production accounts for 96% of Venezuela’s revenue – but that has slumped to a 30-year low of 1.4 million barrels a day, compared to its record high of 3.2 million 10 years ago. The fiscal deficit is almost 20% of GDP while Venezuela struggles with an external debt of US$ 150 billion.

Maduro’s predecessor Chavez stripped three zeroes off the Bolívar in 2008, but that failed to prevent hyperinflation.

According to economist Jean Paul Leidenz, Venezuela is trying to emulate Brazil, which replaced its old cruzeiro currency with the Real in the 1990s after the former was destroyed by hyperinflation. But he said that will not work because of the government’s fiscal indiscipline and a lack of financing.

Cryptocurrency rating site ICOindex.com has branded the Petro a “scam” while the US has banned its nationals from trading in it.

“Anchoring the Bolívar to the Petro is anchoring it to nothing,” said economist Luis Vicente Leon, director at polling organization Datanalisis.

Right from the outset, it has not been clear how the Petro would operate, nor what being backed by oil actually means. Maduro’s government is desperately grasping at straws to try to fix the country’s economic meltdown. </s> Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro (shown), “desperately grasping at straws to try to fix the country’s economic meltdown,” announced a series of economic policy changes over the weekend that he hopes — almost certainly in vain — will save socialism from itself, reported Agence France-Presse.

In a speech to the nation late Friday, Maduro said the country must show “fiscal discipline” and stop inflating its currency, the bolivar, which has become practically worthless. That is, of course, very good advice; but Maduro is unlikely to follow it because doing so would require slashing the massive Venezuelan welfare state and liberalizing the economy, both of which are anathema to the committed Marxist. Instead, he is employing half-measures and tricks that “analysts say … could only serve to make matters worse,” wrote AFP.

Inflation is a huge problem in Venezuela. According to Bloomberg, “Prices are currently rising at an annualized rate of 108,000 percent,” causing thousands of Venezuelans to flee the country. Unfortunately, noted the news service, inflation “will get fresh fuel from [Maduro’s] measures.”

The government introduced Monday a new currency, the bolívar soberano (“sovereign bolivar”), to replace the old bolívar fuerte (“strong bolivar”). The new one is officially valued at 100,000 times the old one, which is to say the government lopped five zeros off the old bills. In 2008, Maduro’s predecessor and mentor, the late Hugo Chávez, tried the same thing, only with three zeros, to no avail.

The new currency will be pegged to Venezuela’s “widely discredited cryptocurrency,” the petro, noted AFP, explaining:

Cryptocurrency rating site ICOindex.com has branded the petro a “scam,” while the U.S. has banned its nationals from trading in it.

“Anchoring the bolivar to the petro is anchoring it to nothing,” said economist Luis Vicente Leon, director at polling organization Datanalisis.

Right from the outset, it has not been clear how the petro would operate, nor what being backed by oil actually means.

Nevertheless, Maduro is setting the petro up as the standard for Venezuela. Its value, currently set at $60 or 3,600 sovereign bolivars, but subject to change, will be used to set prices for goods in the country.

Meanwhile, Maduro “carried out one of the greatest currency devaluations in history over the weekend — a 95 percent plunge,” reported Bloomberg. The official exchange rate for the bolivar went from about 285,000 per dollar to six million. This move, while significant, is in large measure simply a recognition of reality: Six million-to-one is the going rate for bolivars on the black market, and many businesses already list their prices accordingly.

Maduro also tried to buy support from the populace by raising the monthly minimum wage to 1,800 sovereign bolivars, or about $28. That, observed AFP, “is still not enough to buy a kilo of meat.” However, considering that it is a 3,500-percent jump over the previous level, it, along with a four-percentage-point hike in the country’s value added tax, will greatly increase the cost of doing business in Venezuela, which will hardly help its embattled economy.

The uncertainty surrounding the sudden policy changes was such that many businesses did not open Monday. Banks were closed while trying to apply the new currency rules to their ATMs and other electronic services.

All these policy changes are driven by the government’s desire to raise desperately needed revenue. According to AFP, “The fiscal deficit is almost 20 percent of GDP while Venezuela struggles with an external debt of $150 billion.” Maduro has stopped payments on most foreign debt, and creditors are trying to seize Venezuela’s foreign assets in payment.

Last week, Maduro also announced that only those citizens registering their vehicles for a “fatherland card” would be allowed to continuing buying fuel at greatly subsidized prices. While ending the subsidies, which have cost Venezuela $10 billion since 2012, would be a good idea, Maduro’s opponents are right to fear that the move is less about saving money and more about controlling the populace.

Controlling the populace, however, is Maduro’s modus operandi, as it is for all socialists. But unless Maduro becomes willing to cede this control, he may well end up presiding over a barren, depopulated wasteland — situated, ironically, on the world’s largest proven oil reserves. </s> CARACAS/VALENCIA, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela on Monday slashed five zeros from prices as part of a broad economic plan that President Nicolas Maduro says will tame hyperinflation but critics call another raft of failed socialist policies that will push the chaotic country deeper into crisis.

Streets were quiet and shops were closed due to a national holiday that Maduro decreed for the first day of the new pricing plan for the stricken economy, which the International Monetary Fund has estimated will have 1 million percent inflation by year end.

The price change comes with a 3,000 percent minimum wage hike, tax increases meant to shore up state coffers and a plan to peg salaries, prices and the country’s exchange rate to the petro, an elusive state-backed cryptocurrency.

Economists say the plan, which was announced last Friday, is likely to escalate the crisis facing the once-booming nation that is now suffering from Soviet-style product shortages and a mass exodus of citizens fleeing for other South American countries.

Venezuelans were skeptical the plan will turn the economy around.

“I can’t find a cash machine because all the banks are closed today,” said Jose Moreno, 71, a retired engineer in the central city of Valencia, complaining of chronically dysfunctional public services.

“There’s no money, there’s no water, there’s no electricity - there’s nothing.”

After a decade-long oil bonanza that spawned a consumption boom in the OPEC member, many citizens are now reduced to scouring through garbage to find food as monthly salaries currently amount to a few U.S. dollars a month.

The new measures have worried shopkeepers already struggling to stay afloat due to hyperinflation, government-set prices for goods ranging from flour to diapers, and strict currency controls that crimp imports.

Venezuela’s main business organization, Fedecamaras, on Monday slammed Maduro’s economic plan as “improvised” and said it will cause confusion and put the country’s economic activity at “severe risk.”

“Pegging the bolivar to the petro to us seems to be a serious mistake,” said Fedecamaras President Carlos Larrazabal at a news conference. “The plan is incoherent.”

Though Maduro announced this month that the government would hike Venezuela’s heavily subsidized gasoline to international levels, drivers on Monday continued to fuel up at the same prices as last week.

The only notable difference at service stations was that trash cans were filled with old 100-bolivar notes, which are no longer accepted legal tender, that drivers had tossed. The old notes in denominations of 1,000 and above will continue to circulate alongside the new bills for an undetermined period of time.

At Monday’s exchange rate, the equivalent of $0.01 buys 4,233 gallons of gasoline, with one bar of hand soap selling for the same as 152,381 gallons of fuel, according to Reuters calculations.

The bolivar traded on the opaque black market on Monday at around 96 bolivars to the dollar, a rate reflecting the monetary overhaul and which implies a depreciation in real terms of nearly 30 percent since last week. The rate may not be representative of the overall market because trading volumes were thin due to the public holiday, industry experts said.

Growing discontent with Maduro has spread to the military as soldiers struggle to get enough food and many desert by leaving the country, along with thousands of civilians.

Two high-ranking military officers were arrested this month for their alleged involvement in drone explosions during a speech by Maduro, who has described it as an assassination attempt.

The chaos has become an increasing concern for the region. In recent days, Ecuador and Peru have tightened visa requirements for Venezuelans, and violence drove hundreds of Venezuelan migrants back across the border with Brazil on Saturday.

Maduro, re-elected to a second term in May in a vote widely condemned as rigged, says his government is the victim of an “economic war” led by political adversaries with the help of Washington, and accuses the United States of seeking to overthrow him.

The United States has denied the accusations. But it has described the former bus driver and union leader as a dictator and levied several rounds of financial sanctions against his government and top officials. </s> CARACAS/VALENCIA, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela on Monday slashed five zeros from prices as part of a broad economic plan that President Nicolas Maduro says will tame hyperinflation but critics call another raft of failed socialist policies that will push the chaotic country deeper into crisis.

Streets were quiet and shops were closed due to a national holiday that Maduro decreed for the first day of the new pricing plan for the stricken economy, which the International Monetary Fund has estimated will have 1 million percent inflation by year end.

The price change comes with a 3,000 percent minimum wage hike, tax increases meant to shore up state coffers and a plan to peg salaries, prices and the country’s exchange rate to the petro, an elusive state-backed cryptocurrency.

Economists say the plan, which was announced last Friday, is likely to escalate the crisis facing the once-booming nation that is now suffering from Soviet-style product shortages and a mass exodus of citizens fleeing for other South American countries.

Venezuelans were sceptical the plan will turn the economy around.

“I can’t find a cash machine because all the banks are closed today,” said Jose Moreno, 71, a retired engineer in the central city of Valencia, complaining of chronically dysfunctional public services.

“There’s no money, there’s no water, there’s no electricity - there’s nothing.”

After a decade-long oil bonanza that spawned a consumption boom in the OPEC member, many citizens are now reduced to scouring through garbage to find food as monthly salaries currently amount to a few U.S. dollars a month.

The new measures have worried shopkeepers already struggling to stay afloat due to hyperinflation, government-set prices for goods ranging from flour to diapers, and strict currency controls that crimp imports.

Venezuela’s main business organization, Fedecamaras, on Monday slammed Maduro’s economic plan as “improvised” and said it will cause confusion and put the country’s economic activity at “severe risk.”

“Pegging the bolivar to the petro to us seems to be a serious mistake,” said Fedecamaras President Carlos Larrazabal at a news conference. “The plan is incoherent.”

Though Maduro announced this month that the government would hike Venezuela’s heavily subsidized gasoline to international levels, drivers on Monday continued to fuel up at the same prices as last week.

The only notable difference at service stations was that trash cans were filled with old 100-bolivar notes, which are no longer accepted legal tender, that drivers had tossed. The old notes in denominations of 1,000 and above will continue to circulate alongside the new bills for an undetermined period of time.

At Monday’s exchange rate, the equivalent of $0.01 buys 4,233 gallons of gasoline, with one bar of hand soap selling for the same as 152,381 gallons of fuel, according to Reuters calculations.

The bolivar traded on the opaque black market on Monday at around 96 bolivars to the dollar, a rate reflecting the monetary overhaul and which implies a depreciation in real terms of nearly 30 percent since last week. The rate may not be representative of the overall market because trading volumes were thin due to the public holiday, industry experts said.

Growing discontent with Maduro has spread to the military as soldiers struggle to get enough food and many desert by leaving the country, along with thousands of civilians.

Two high-ranking military officers were arrested this month for their alleged involvement in drone explosions during a speech by Maduro, who has described it as an assassination attempt.

The chaos has become an increasing concern for the region. In recent days, Ecuador and Peru have tightened visa requirements for Venezuelans, and violence drove hundreds of Venezuelan migrants back across the border with Brazil on Saturday.

Maduro, re-elected to a second term in May in a vote widely condemned as rigged, says his government is the victim of an “economic war” led by political adversaries with the help of Washington, and accuses the United States of seeking to overthrow him.

The United States has denied the accusations. But it has described the former bus driver and union leader as a dictator and levied several rounds of financial sanctions against his government and top officials. </s> Venezuela’s natural reserves, such as oil, gas, and gold, encourage the US to seek regime change there, President Maduro told RT, saying he won’t be remembered as a leader who showed weakness and ignorance to his people.

“What is Donald Trump’s ‘casus belli’ against Venezuela? The ‘casus belli’ is the oil of Venezuela, the riches of Venezuela, its gold, gas, iron, diamonds, other material riches,” Maduro said in an exclusive interview with RT Spanish. The remarks come as Western nations pile overwhelming pressure on the Latin American country.

President Maduro, who is widely seen as the successor to the cause of late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, said it doesn’t matter how he will go down in history.

What does matter, he said, is that he doesn’t want to be a “traitor” and a “weak person,” bowing down to Washington.

Turmoil in Venezuela escalated on the heels of economic hardships which saw the country suffer from galloping inflation, skyrocketing prices and low living standards. Yet, President Maduro believes his government has a solution to those troubles.

Admitting that “hyperinflation caused tremendous damage to us,” he suggested that the resources “kidnapped by the world” be freed for a national recovery.

Aside from that, the government will work on keeping prices as low as possible and will stabilise the national currency rate. US sanctions also did their job, President Maduro said.

He labelled Washington’s restrictions against state-run oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) and its US subsidiary Citgo illegal, saying Caracas will respond.

“What they have done has no name, it has never been done against any country,” stated President Maduro.

CIA World Factbook for 2017 says Venezuela has the world’s biggest proven crude oil reserves, surpassing those of Saudi Arabia, Canada, Iran and Iraq.

During the crisis, Venezuelan officials suggested that oil is behind US attempt to replace Maduro with someone friendlier to Washington.

As Bush-era arch-hawk John Bolton put it, the US had “a lot at stake” in Venezuela’s affairs.

“It will make a big difference to the United States economically if we could have American oil companies invest in and produce the oil capabilities in Venezuela,” he told Fox Business host Trish Regan.

The US has steadily toughened sanctions on Venezuela in recent years in an effort to weaken the government and destabilise economy.

Some international observers believe the sanctions and economic war hit Venezuela’s people in the first place, contributing to the lack of medicine, malnutrition and mortality.

In a separate development, President Maduro said he had written to Pope Francis asking him to help mediate his country’s crisis after a number of nations recognised an unelected opposition member as interim leader.

“I sent a letter to Pope Francis,” President Maduro told Italy’s SkyTG24 television in an interview broadcast on Monday.

“I told him that I serve Christ’s cause . . . and in this spirit I asked for his help, in a process of facilitating and strengthening dialogue,” said Maduro, who has rejected calls for snap presidential elections.

“I ask the Pope to put in his best effort, his will to help on the path of dialogue. I hope to receive a positive response,” he said. — RT/AFP/HR. </s> US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order banning the use of Venezuela's new crypto-currency, Petro.

The executive order, signed by Trump on Monday, prohibits all US transactions in digital currencies that benefit the Venezuelan government.

Trump described the February launch of the Petro cryptocurrency as an "attempt to circumvent US sanctions", according to a White House statement announcing the order.

The order bans US businesses and citizens, specifically "all transactions related to, provision of financing for, and other dealings in, by a United States person or within the United States, any digital currency, digital coin, or digital token".

The US government's actions are believed to send a clear message to their counterparts in Venezuela.

Treasury Secretary Steven T Mnuchin said on Monday that the US ban is aimed at "restoring Venezuelan democracy, combating the kleptocracy of the Maduro regime, and responding to the humanitarian crisis caused by Maduro's economic policy".

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The Venezuelan government referred to the US ban as "gross meddling" and tantamount to "new imperial aggression" against its "financial and economic system".

It said it will maintain its "sovereign decision to continue promoting Blockchain technology and make the Petro one of the most solid and reliable cryptocurrencies in the world".

In February, Venezuela became the first country to launch its own digital currency, which critics regarded as a cash levy to pay off Venezuela's foreign debt of $150bn.

Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro tweeted that the government earned $735m on its launch day - a claim that has not been independently verified.

Currently the Petro is propped up by Venezuela's extensive crude oil reserves.

On Monday, the US also imposed sanctions against four current and former Venezuelan officials on allegations of mismanagement, bribery and corruption.

The sanctions come before Trump's visit to the Summit of the Americas next month in Peru, where the Venezulean crisis is expected to be discussed.

Since November 2017, Venezuela has been in "selective fault" on its foreign debt, foregoing repayment to its bondholders. </s> CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The latest on the political crisis in Venezuela (all times local):

The Mexican government says it disagrees with a map displayed by the White House that shows Mexico among those countries that support Venezuela's embattled president, Nicolas Maduro.

National security adviser John Bolton held a press briefing Monday with a map that showed in red the countries supporting Maduro and in blue those nations supporting the Venezuelan congress leader Juan Guaido, who has declared himself Venezuela's interim president.

Mexico's ambassador to the U.S. told reporters in Washington that her government isn't taking sides in the crisis.

In Ambassador Martha Barcena's words: "We are not against the U.S. regarding the position on Venezuela. We are not siding with Maduro. We are not siding with Guaido. We think a third way of a peaceful solution can be found."

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is calling potentially crippling U.S. sanctions against the troubled nation's state-owned oil company "criminal."

In remarks televised Monday on state TV, Maduro accuses the United States of robbing Venezuelans of oil riches that rightfully belong to them.

In a direct message to President Donald Trump spoken in broken English, Maduro says forcefully: "Hands off Venezuela!"

His increasingly isolated government would lose access to one of its most important sources of income and foreign currency along with $7 billion in assets under the U.S. sanctions.

The embattled leader is fighting for his political survival as a growing list of nations recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president.

Maduro says he will be announcing a range of measures in response to the U.S. sanctions within the coming hours but has provided no details.

The White House is not elaborating on the phrase "5,000 troops to Colombia" that could be seen on a notepad held by national security adviser John Bolton at a news conference announcing new sanctions for Venezuela.

Asked to explain the words, the White House said in an email to The Associated Press that "as the President has said, all options are on the table." The statement did not say anything further about the note.

The phrase could be seen during a portion of a White House news conference Monday during which Bolton and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced sanctions on Venezuela's state oil company. Colombia borders Venezuela and its government has sided with the U.S. in opposing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

President Donald Trump and other administration officials have repeatedly said "all options" are under consideration as they seek to pressure Maduro to give up power. But there has not been any announcement of any direct U.S. military involvement in the situation.

A legal pad held by U.S. national security adviser John Bolton at a White House news conference on Venezuela contained the phrase "5,000 troops to Colombia."

Bolton held the legal pad so the phrase was showing during a portion of Monday's announcement that the U.S. was imposing sanctions on the Venezuelan state-owned oil company.

There was no mention during the news conference of any plans regarding troops in Colombia, which borders Venezuela. But an image was captured by a photographer from The Associated Press and other news outlets.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

The Pentagon has not announced any plans to send U.S. forces to the South American nation.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is repeating his offer of "good offices" to facilitate dialogue and negotiations between Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and self-declared interim president Juan Guaido (gwah-DOH).

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric says the U.N. chief reiterated the offer during a meeting Monday with a delegation from the Caribbean Community on the situation in Venezuela "and its implications for the region."

The delegation was led by Saint Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Timothy Harris, who is chairman of CARICOM.

Barbados' ambassador to the United Nations spoke on behalf of CARICOM leaders at Saturday's meeting of the Security Council on Venezuela and reaffirmed the group's principles of non-interference and non-intervention in the affairs of states. Elizabeth Thompson said the leaders' view is that Venezuela's political crisis "can only be resolved peacefully through meaningful dialogue and diplomacy."

U.S. national security adviser John Bolton says sanctions on Venezuela's state-owned oil company will ensure the government of socialist President Nicholas Maduro can "no longer loot the assets of the Venezuelan people."

Bolton says he expects Monday's actions will block $7 billion in assets and cause more than $11 billion in lost export proceeds during the next year.

The U.S. and Venezuela broke relations last week after President Donald Trump recognized opposition lawmaker Juan Guaido (gwah-DOH) as the legitimate Venezuelan president.

The embattled Maduro still holds the reins in Venezuela, but the U.S. and allies are using economic and diplomatic pressure to push him out. Maduro is accusing the U.S. of openly leading a coup against him.

Bolton and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin briefed reporters at the White House.

Sen. Marco Rubio says the U.S. will hit Venezuela's state-owned oil company with sanctions aimed at increasing pressure on President Nicolas Maduro to step down from office.

The Florida Republican and two people briefed on the administration's plans say Treasury will impose penalties as early as Monday on the company known by its acronym PDVSA. The sanctions will include a freeze on any assets the firm may have in U.S. jurisdictions and bar Americans from doing business with it. The two people briefed on the sanctions were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Rubio praised the Trump administration for taking the action, which follows its earlier decision to recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as the interim president.

Canada plans to host an emergency meeting of the 14-nation Lima Group next week to discuss options for the crisis in Venezuela.

Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said Monday the meeting will be in Ottawa on Feb. 4.

The regional group was created in Lima, Peru, in 2017 to try to hope resolve the crisis in Venezuela and nearly all of the nations now have thrown their support behind opposition leader Juan Guaido as the interim president of Venezuela, deciding that last year's re-election of President Nicolas Maduro was invalid. Canada has been a key presence the effort to have Guaido recognized as president pending new elections.

Freeland says Venezuela has been a top foreign policy priority for Canada.

A Venezuelan diplomat in Miami says she's abandoned embattled President Nicolas Maduro, throwing her support behind opposition leader Juan Guaido.

Consular officer Scarlet Salazar issued a videotaped statement Monday saying she's living up to her constitutional duty as a career diplomat.

Opposition lawmaker Guaido last week declared that he had assumed presidential powers and will hold fresh elections to restore democracy. The U.S. and several other countries have recognized him as interim president, though Maduro is recognized by most nations, as well as the country's military leadership.

Salazar says she's staying and will continue to perform her consular duties at the Miami office.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro says that the wages for workers in Venezuela must be linked to the petro.