U.S. hits Venezuela with new sanctions
Citizens urged to protest against government
• The U. S. hit Venezuela with new sanctions Wednesday and 13 regional nations — including Canada — called for the suspension of Sunday’s election as Venezuelan Opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez urged citizens to support a 48- hour general strike to protest government plans to rewrite the constitution.
In his first direct public message since being released from prison to house arrest, the 46- year- old former Caracas- area mayor also appealed to the military not to deploy for Sunday’s election of a constituent assembly tasked with overhauling the embattled nation’s charter.
Lopez, who was sentenced to 14 years in 2015 after being convicted of inciting violence during a previous spate of protests, said in a 15- minute video message: “We are on the brink of their trying to annihilate the republic that you swore to defend. I ask you not to be accomplices in the annihilation of the republic.”
President Nicolas Maduro is promoting the constitution rewrite as a means of resolving Venezuela’s political standoff and economic crisis, but opposition leaders are boycotting it. The assembly could dramatically reshape government and help Maduro further consolidate his power.
Canada and 12 other regional nations are urging Maduro to suspend Sunday’s election amid the political unrest.
The nations presented a statement at an Organization of American States meeting Wednesday calling the constitutional process being pushed by Maduro a “definitive dismantling” of democratic institutions.
The statement expressed concern over what it said is a “serious alteration of the democratic order, the worsening of the crisis and the increase of violence” in Venezuela.
The statement was issued by the governments of Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and the United States.
The new sanctions announced by the U.S. on Wednesday target 13 current or former top officials in Maduro’s government that the Trump administration says are promoting Sunday’s vote or undermining democracy, along with five others implicated in violence or repression amid the country’s political crisis.
The sanctions freeze any assets the individuals have in the United States and bar Americans from doing business with them.
Also on Wednesday, Colombia’s flagship airline, Avianca, announced it was suspending all flights to Venezuela.
Avianca cited security concerns, saying changes are needed to improve airport infrastructure and ensure international standards are met. The airline operates two direct flights to Venezuela: One from Bogota, Colombia, and the other from Lima, Peru.
A growing list of air carriers has suspended service to Venezuela as the country sinks further into economic and political ruin.