Washington: The United States and Russia clashed Friday over how to assist crisis-wracked Venezuela, with Moscow pledging new relief channelled through President Nicolas Maduro and Washington slapping sanctions over the blocking of US aid it tried to push through the border.
A day after Russia and China vetoed a US and European resolution at the UN Security Council that called for unimpeded aid deliveries, Washington said it was targeting six Venezuelan military officers for stopping last weekend’s US-led convoy.
Four people were killed in the melee as Maduro’s forces prevented the 178 metric tonnes of rice, beans and other food from crossing into the country from Colombia. The leftist strongman said the aid is a pretext for a US-led invasion.
“We are sanctioning members of Maduro’s security forces in response to the reprehensible violence, tragic deaths and unconscionable torching of food and medicine destined for sick and starving Venezuelans,” US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.
The six include Major General Richard Jesus Lopez Vargas, the commander of the Venezuelan National Guard. The sanctions freeze any assets in the United States and penalise US financial dealings with the officials. The United States also revoked the visas of 49 Venezuelan officials and their family members, the State Department said.
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, whom Washington has recognised as Interim-President, had hoped to triumph in bringing in the stockpiles of food, which the United States coordinated with Colombia and Brazil.
More than 50 countries recognise Guaido as Venezuela’s rightful president – but Maduro enjoys strong support from Russia, which is eager to challenge US interventionism, as well as China, which is concerned over the fate of billions of dollars Beijing has lent to Caracas.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov while receiving Venezuelan Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez in Moscow, said Friday that Russia was stepping up shipments of wheat and was considering sending more medical supplies after shipping 7.5 tonnes.
Elliott Abrams, the US special representative on the crisis, charged that Maduro’s forces would turn Russian aid into a ‘political weapon’ by providing it only to supporters.
AFP