20 May, 2017
Almost two months of street protests throughout Venezuela have left at least 46 people dead.
The U.S. Department of Treasury announced Thursday it is freezing the assets of eight Venezuelan government officials on the Supreme Court in an effort to support the Venezuelan people "in their efforts to protect and advance democratic governance".
Rycroft said the United Kingdom is very concerned about the humanitarian impact of the current crisis, "the growing risks of flows of migration out of Venezuela and. the possibility of regional instability".
"For the sake of the Venezuelan people, and the security of the region", Haley said, "we must work together to ensure Maduro ends this violence and oppression and restores democracy to the people".
In February, the US ordered sanctions against Vice President Tareck El Aissami, accusing him of playing a major role in worldwide drug trafficking. Despite having the largest oil reserves in the world, the country's fossil fuel dependent economy has floundered after the price of oil dropped. Hopefully that will change and they can use those assets for the good.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said he hoped the passport revocation was not a "reprisal" linked to his scheduled meeting with Capriles on Friday.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez took to Twitter late Thursday to call the USA sanctions "outrageous and unacceptable".
Maduro's government accused the protesters of seeking a violent coup and says many of them are no more than "terrorists".
Venezuela's Supreme Court has always been filled with government loyalists. No one replied when Capriles said buenas (good afternoon) to an office full of airport officials.
Venezuela said it was sending 2,000 soldiers on Wednesday to a border state that is a hotspot of anti-government radicalism after looting that killed a 15-year-old in the latest unrest roiling the nation.
It reversed its decision a few days later but by then the opposition had seized the momentum.
Venezuelan government officials dispute the notion that the country's justice system is politicized.
The Trump administration will take further action against "bad actors" in Venezuela if there are no changes in the country, a senior USA government official said on Thursday.
The new sanctions come as Maduro is facing increasing pressure at home and overseas to hold elections. And Organization of American States Secretary General Luis Almagro took to Twitter to call the government's move "unacceptable" and a "flagrant violation" of human rights.
The United Nations Security Council on May 17 turned its attention to the crisis in Venezuela.
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