As the international community piled on Venezuela Monday, the White House rolled out new sanctions and more than a dozen countries rejected Sunday’s “sham” presidential elections that handed Nicolás Maduro a new six-year term.
On Monday, President Donald Trump signed an order limiting Venezuela’s ability to liquidate assets “at fire sale prices,” the Associated Press reported.
The move might be aimed at keeping Venezuela from selling off its stake in the CITGO oil company, which operates in the United States.
Closer to Caracas, the 14 nations that are part of the “Lima Group” said they would be limiting diplomatic ties with Venezuela and would study blocking all future loans to the nation.
The moves come less than 24 hours after Maduro won a new term in a controversial vote that his rivals and critics say was marred by fraud.
In a statement, the Lima Group, said it did not recognize the “legitimacy” of Sunday’s vote and said its members had agreed to “reduce the level of diplomatic relations with Venezuela” and recall their ambassadors for consultation.
The Lima Group is comprised of Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Saint Lucia. And the bloc has been a vocal opponent of what it sees as growing authoritarianism in Venezuela.
Read more at our news partner, the Miami Herald.
