International pressure mounted against Venezuela’s leader Nicolas Maduro on Sunday, with Washington vowing to “take action” after opposition efforts to bring humanitarian aid into the country descended into blood-soaked chaos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo<\/a> said on Saturday that the United States \u201cwill take action\u201d in Venezuela, as he condemned violence perpetrated by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro<\/a>\u2019s \u201cthugs\u201d after security forces fired on demonstrators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe US will take action against those who oppose the peaceful restoration of democracy in #Venezuela<\/a>. Now is the time to act in support of the needs of the desperate Venezuelan people,\u201d Pompeo wrote on Twitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe stand in solidarity with those continuing their struggle for freedom. #EstamosUnidosVE.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n While @jguaido<\/a> leads the effort to get the aid to the people, Maduro sends armed gangs to attack innocent civilians. #EstamosUnidosVE<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The U.S. will take action against those who oppose the peaceful restoration of democracy in #Venezuela<\/a>. Now is the time to act in support of the needs of the desperate Venezuelan people. We stand in solidarity with those continuing their struggle for freedom. #EstamosUnidosVE<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/XfLEsyT6Rj<\/a>9,832<\/a>8:08 PM – Feb 23, 2019<\/a>Twitter Ads info and privacy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n 7,325 people are talking about this<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n After two people were killed and more than 300 wounded in clashes between people trying to get humanitarian aid into Venezuela from neighbouring countries and forces loyal to Maduro blocking the shipments, the top Washington diplomat tweeted, \u201cthe US condemns the attacks on civilians in #Venezuela perpetrated by Maduro\u2019s thugs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese attacks have resulted in deaths and injuries,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur deepest sympathies to the families of those who have died due to these criminal acts. We join their demand for justice. #EstamosUnidosVE.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n This was followed on Sunday by the European Union condemning Caracas for its use of violence and armed supporters of the regime to prevent the entry of humanitarian aid into Venezuela.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe repudiate the use of irregular armed groups to intimidate civilians and lawmakers who have mobilised to distribute assistance,\u201d Euopean Union’s Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini <\/a>said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Opposition leader Juan Guaido<\/a> said the regime had \u201cdeployed irregulars\u201d to block the entry of aid, referring to groups of armed Maduro supporters who tend to operate both alongside and independently of the security forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are worrying reports of unrest, acts of violence and a growing number of victims, in particular in the border areas and among the Pemon indigenous community,\u201d Mogherini said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe strongly call on law enforcement and security bodies to show restraint, avoid use of force and allow for the entry of aid.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n #JuanGuaido<\/a> calls on the international community to consider “all measures to free” #Venezuela<\/a> after opposition efforts to bring humanitarian aid into the country descended into bloody chaos http:\/\/u.afp.com\/JwYV <\/a>310<\/a>5:05 AM – Feb 24, 2019<\/a>356 people are talking about this<\/a>Twitter Ads info and privacy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mogherini also said the EU was ready to \u201cscale up\u201d humanitarian and development aid to ease the plight of Venezuelans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe European Union has already committed more than \u20ac60 million in 2018\/19 in humanitarian and development aid. We recall our commitment to help those in need for as long as it takes, to scale up this assistance,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Brazil on Sunday also condemned the violence by Maduro’s administration this weekend, branding it a \u201ccriminal act\u201d and calling on the international community to join efforts to \u201cliberate\u201d the South American nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, Brazilian Army Colonel George Feres Kanaan said on Sunday that two Venezuelan national guard soldiers deserted to Brazil late on Saturday, joining some 60 military officials who defected in Colombia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (FRANCE 24 with AFP)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" International pressure mounted against Venezuela’s leader Nicolas Maduro on Sunday, with Washington vowing to “take action” after opposition efforts to bring humanitarian aid into the country descended into blood-soaked chaos. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Saturday that the United States \u201cwill take action\u201d in Venezuela, as he condemned violence perpetrated by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro\u2019s \u201cthugs\u201d after security forces fired… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3341"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3342,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3341\/revisions\/3342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}