United States vice president Mike Pence stepped up efforts to oust embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Friday by imposing fresh sanctions over Venezuelan oil shipments, and has vowed “strong action” against Cuba allegedly helping Venezuela to keep the regime afloat.
According to Reuters news reports, Pence said the US will make greater efforts to prevent oil revenues from the Venezuelan oil sector, including sanctions over county’s oil and finance sectors.
At Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, Pence, calling for oil shipments “the lifeblood of that corrupt regime”, said, “The United States will continue to exert all diplomatic and economic pressure to bring about a peaceful transition to democracy.”
After the completion of Pence’s speech, the treasury announced US sanctions imposed over 34 vessels operated or owned by Venezuelan state-run oil entity PDVSA. The US treasury has also sanctioned two shipping operators including a vessel that has delivered oil to Cuba in March and February.
Pence lambast on Maduro calling him the “real imperialists” in the Western Hemisphere, further adding, “The time has come to liberate Venezuela from Cuba.”
Pence has on Friday said Maduro “must go”, stating Maduro is a dictator with no legitimate claim to power. The White House issued a statement in which Pence stated, “Make no mistake about it. The struggle in Venezuela is between dictatorship and democracy, but freedom has momentum. Nicolas Maduro is a dictator with no legitimate claim to power, and Nicolas Maduro must go.”
Also read: ‘Nicolas Maduro must go’: US’ Mike Pence says ‘dictator’ claims no legitimate power in Venezuela