U.S. to deploy full scale sanctions against Mudaro, cautions Russia – Pompeo
http://www.hrlnews.com/2019/04/us-to-deploy-full-scale-sanctions.html
The U.S will use all economic and political tools at its disposal to
hold Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro accountable for his country’s
crisis and will make clear to Cuba and Russia they will pay a price for
supporting him, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday.
Pompeo made the comments in the Colombian border city of Cucuta, the
final stop of a three-day trip to Chile, Paraguay and Peru, a clutch of
fast-growing countries in a region where Washington’s concerns are
focused on the Venezuelan crisis and China’s growing presence.
Maduro blames U.S. sanctions for the country’s economic problems and dismisses opposition leader Juan Guaido as a U.S. puppet.
Guaido had in January invoked the constitution to assume an interim
presidency, arguing the socialist leader’s 2018 re-election was
illegitimate.
No fewer than three million Venezuelans have fled hyperinflation, food and medicine shortages and political crisis.
“The U.S. will continue to utilise every economic and political means
at our disposal to help the Venezuelan people,” Pompeo said after
visiting with migrants at a Cucuta shelter and touring border bridges
and a warehouse storing humanitarian aid.
“Using sanctions, visa revocations and other means, we pledge to hold
the regime and those propping it up accountable for their corruption
and their repression of democracy.”
Cucuta receives a significant portion of Venezuelan migrants arriving
in Colombia, many of whom come with only what they can carry.
Although most Western nations, including the U.S., have recognised
Guaido as interim head of state, Russia, China and Cuba have stood by
Maduro.
“You watch the political and diplomatic noose tighten around Maduro’s
neck,” Pompeo told reporters accompanying him on the trip before taking
off for the U.S.
“Cubans must understand too that there will be cost associated with
continued support of Nicolas Maduro,” he said. “And we’re going to have
that same conversation with the Russians as well.”
Washington has imposed a raft of sanctions against Maduro’s
government in an attempt to dislodge him from power, but he retains the
backing of the country’s military.
On Friday, the U.S. Treasury Department added four firms and nine
ships to its blacklist, some of which it said carried oil to Cuba.
President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, said
on Friday he would deliver a speech in Miami to Cuban exiles on
Wednesday about actions the White House is taking on Venezuela, Cuba and
Nicaragua, countries he has called a “troika of tyranny.”
While no final decision has been made on punitive measures Bolton is
expected to announce, the Trump administration has been considering a
range of options.
It includes new targeted sanctions and further tightening of business
restrictions on the Communist-ruled island that had been eased by
former President Barack Obama, according to two people familiar with the
matter.
Critics have warned that heavy sanctions on Venezuela could hurt ordinary Venezuelans.
Pompeo urged Maduro to leave his post and Venezuela so the country can return to normalcy.
“I hope that you will care now, when you see the horror, when you see
the tragedy, to change your ways and to leave your country,” Pompeo
said.
During his trip, Pompeo echoed previous U.S. criticism of China’s
growing presence in Latin America, warning of “predatory” lending
practices and “malign or nefarious” actions.
China, whose booming economy over the past two decades has driven up
demand for raw materials, is already the top trade partner for nations
from tiny Uruguay to Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy and the
world’s top soybean exporter.
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