Donald Trump imposes sanctions on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as his parting shot

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been issued with sanctions by the Trump administration on Tuesday, January 18. He has been accused of moving oil on behalf of the President's alleged frontman. President-elect Joe Biden’s choice to be secretary of state, Antony Blinken has shown his support for the future US policy towards Venezuela. However, he expressed his frustration over the results of current US policy which led to unfair election results. 

According to reports by AP, Blinken said, “Maybe we need to look at how we more effectively target the sanctions that we have. So that regime enablers really feel the pain of those sanctions.'' He also said that there is scope for better coordination with allied nations and democracy can be restored. 

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Unfair elections 

Meanwhile, in his first official statement during polling, Maduro told reporters outside the Caracas' main military barracks that he was determined to put an end to the domination of a fraudulent party in the legislative assembly, adding that he would overthrow his rival who had inflicted cruelty, pain, and suffering on the country. Meanwhile, critics allege that the Venezuelan President had rigged the elections to weaken the opposition. 

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According to sources of AP, ahead of the polling, the Supreme Court of Venezuela deemed loyal to Maduro had appointed a new elections commission, including three members sanctioned by the US and Canada. The opposition alleged that the leader had prohibited any participation of the opposition-led congress in the democratic election procedures as the law states. Guaidó's opposition movement has planned to hold a referendum for a popular vote of the civilians whether they wanted Maduro’s party to rule the country.

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(Image Credits: AP)