maduro hat supporter
© Global Look Press / Humberto Matheus
The US has announced a fresh round of Venezuela-related penalties, adding four new individuals to a list of people already subject to Washington's hit-list of restrictions.

Former Venezuelan vice president Ramon Carrizales and former minister of defense Jorge Garcia Carneiro have both been added to the list, along with Socialist Party politicians Rafael Lacava and Omar Prieto.

The new sanctions come as relations between Washington and Caracas continue to deteriorate over the US' decision to recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president of Venezuela, and repeated calls by top American officials for current President Nicolas Maduro to step down.

The new deterrents were announced by the Department of the Treasury as US Vice President Mike Pence attended a meeting of the regional Lima Group of nations in Colombia, where he is expected to announce further punitive measures against Maduro's government on Monday.


Comment: Funny how this lot hasn't gotten too much mainstream coverage, while alternative outlets that want to report on the group's activities are actively blocked from doing so.


Pence told Guaido at the summit that the US is behind him "100 percent." Hours earlier, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza blasted US actions on Monday and blamed his country's economic problems on the US financial blockade and economic warfare. Maduro has repeatedly accused America of trying to foment a coup against him.

Pence also announced other restrictions: "As of today the US will impose additional new sanctions on regimes officials, including three border state governors linked to the weekend violence," he said.


Top Venezuelan figures already under US restrictions include Vice President Delcy Rodrigues, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez, and Maduro's wife Cilia Adela Flores de Maduro.

Independent journalists who have traveled to Venezuela have reported less chaos than has been depicted by Western media - and many have argued that it is US sanctions which are making the economic situation more difficult for ordinary Venezuelans.