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US hits 'dictator' Maduro with sanctions over disputed Venezuela vote
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Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during the opening of the third United Nations Habitat Conference, in Quito, Ecuador, Oct. 17, 2016. (AP/Dolores Ochoa)
T
he United States hit Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with direct sanctions on Monday over a disputed and deadly weekend vote, calling him a "dictator," while the leader refused to heed what he slammed as "imperial orders."
The measures were unusual in that they targeted a sitting head of state, but their reach was mostly symbolic, freezing any US assets Maduro might have and banning people under US jurisdiction from dealing with him.
"Yesterday's illegitimate elections confirm that Maduro is a dictator who disregards the will of the Venezuelan people," US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters.
Maduro lashed out at the move, saying it smacked of American imperialism.
"I will not obey imperial orders," he said.
"I am so proud, Mr Donald Trump," Maduro joked in English, before switching to slang in Spanish: "Go for it, already. I am being targeted with sanctions because I do not obey the orders of foreign governments."
Colombia, Mexico, Peru and other nations joined the US in saying they did not recognize the results of Sunday's election, which appointed a new "Constituent Assembly" superseding Venezuela's legislative body, the opposition-controlled National Assembly.
Maduro's own attorney general, Luisa Ortega -- who broke with him months ago over his policies -- also said she would not acknowledge the body, calling it part of the president's "dictatorial ambition."
The European Union expressed "preoccupation for the fate of democracy in Venezuela" and said it, too, doubted it could accept the results.
And Britain's Foreign Minister Boris Johnson warned that Venezuela "stands on the brink of disaster."
