No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeNewsLatin AmericaUS eyes sanctions over growing Russian support for Venezuela

US eyes sanctions over growing Russian support for Venezuela

The United States will take action in response to growing Russian support for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a senior US official warned Monday.

US President Donald Trump’s administration has sanctioned Maduro’s regime and called it a dictatorship after he was re-elected in 2018 in elections widely seen as fraudulent.

“We are looking at additional sanctions, personal sanctions, economic sanctions that we think will bring more pressure,” Elliot Abrams, the State Department’s Venezuela envoy, told reporters.

Abrams, who did not specify what the sanctions would be, said the US had been looking closely at Russia’s role in Venezuela and would not allow the level of support to go unchecked.

Abrams said Russia was mainly interested in “the oil economy” in Venezuela, while Maduro has grown increasingly reliant on Moscow over the past year.

“Russian companies are now handling more than two-thirds, more than 70 percent of Venezuelan oil,” Abrams said. “So the Russian role is increasingly important.”

Abrams did not speculate on whether Russia was involved in pushing Maduro to take control of the opposition-majority National Assembly on Sunday, which Washington currently considers the only democratic body in Venezuela.

Police had prevented opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido from entering the parliament, and in his absence Luis Parra, a corruption-tainted opposition lawmaker, declared himself parliament speaker.

Maduro holds actual power but Guaido’s claim to the presidency is recognized by more than 50 countries, including the United States and many European nations.
Among Maduro’s remaining supporters are Russia, North Korea and Cuba.

Abrams admitted that the US had underestimated the support Maduro received from Russia and Cuba, saying that the two countries had supplied Venezuela with thousands of intelligence agents.

Cuban and Russian assistance “has proved, I think, to be the two most important pillars of support for the regime, and without which it wouldn’t be there,” he said.

Maduro “is left with Cuba, Russia, China and a few odd dictatorships around the world, but he is losing support not only on the right, not only in the center, but on the left in Latin America,” Abrams added.

Trending Now

Keylor Navas Joins Pumas After Controversial Exit from Newell’s

Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas is officially the newest player for Pumas UNAM, but his move from Argentina’s Newell’s Old Boys has been anything...

Chiquita Executives Convicted in Colombia for Financing Death Squads

Colombian justice on Wednesday sentenced seven former executives of the multinational banana company Chiquita Brands to more than 11 years in prison and a...

Costa Rica Faces Economic Blow as Intel, Pfizer, and Qorvo Announce Restructuring

Intel announced that it will shut down its chip assembly and test plant in Costa Rica, part of a broader global restructuring aimed at...

Costa Rica Tops Latin America in Attracting Foreign Millionaires

Costa Rica is a country that attracts millionaires. Projections indicate that by the end of 2025, a total of 350 foreign millionaires will have...

Panama Union Leader Saúl Méndez Goes into Exile in Bolivia

The leader of Panama’s main union, Saúl Méndez, accused of fraud and money laundering, left for exile in Bolivia this Saturday. He had taken...

Keylor Navas Leads Pumas to Victory in His Liga MX Debut

Keylor Navas kicked off his Mexican league journey with Pumas UNAM in style, leading the team to a 2–0 win over Querétaro at Estadio...
spot_img
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest News from Costa Rica