By The Diary
Sep 14, 2024, 09:32 AM EDT
The White House has warned Nicolás Maduro that if he does not “do the right thing” and publish the results of the July 28 presidential elections, the United States will impose more sanctions against Venezuela.
“We have issued sanctions. We are not going to rule out anything in the future,” said White House Homeland Security Representative John Kirby at a press conference.
The US spokesman added that Maduro “has options and decisions that only he can make” and “the first decision he must make is to publish all the data and election results so that everyone can see how these elections were conducted and how and to what extent the will of the Venezuelan people was truly fulfilled.”
The United States administration has sanctioned 16 Venezuelan officials, including some members of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), the National Electoral Council (CNE) and the National Assembly, all three of whom were seized by the Chavista regime, for “falsely” proclaiming Maduro’s controversial victory in the elections at the end of July.
Among those sanctioned are the president of the Supreme Court, Caryslia Rodríguez; the president of the Civil Registry and Electoral Commission of the CNE, Rosalba Gil Pacheco; and the vice president of the National Assembly, Pedro Infante Aparicio.
The State Department also banned the entry of “Maduro-aligned officials who have undermined the electoral process in Venezuela and who are responsible for acts of repression,” although it did not reveal the number or their identities.
“Frankly, the most important decision for him right now is whether he’s going to do the right thing for the Venezuelan people. He has to make that decision. And if he doesn’t, we’re going to have to make some additional decisions on our own,” Kirby added.
In response to the sanctions, Maduro issued a statement rejecting, in “the strongest terms,” the “new crime of aggression committed by the Government of the United States of America against Venezuela, by imposing unilateral, illegitimate and illegal coercive measures on a group of State officials.”
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