WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th July, 2019) Members of Venezuela's opposition met with US lawmakers in Washington to discuss ways to impose new sanctions against President Nicolas Maduro, Juan Guaido's representative in the United States Carlos Vecchio said.
"We met with@RepGregPence and assessed new mechanisms to increase actions and sanctions against Maduro's terrorist and criminal regime. Venezuelans have a good ally at the US Congress, in the struggle to end suffering and oppression in our country," Vecchio said in a Twitter post after the meeting on Tuesday.
In a separate statement, Vecchio's office said the envoy asked the US lawmaker for help in scaling sanctions against Maduro because "this is the right time to increase the pressure."
Vecchio and Minister Counselor Gustavo Marcano met with Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart later in the day for talks related to protections for Venezuelan citizens currently residing in the United States, according to the statement.
The envoys also thanked him for advancing Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for all Venezuelan migrants residing in the United States, mostly in Florida.
Venezuela is experiencing a political-economic crisis that intensified in January after Guaido proclaimed himself interim president in a bid to oust Maduro. For his part, Maduro has called Guaido a US puppet and accused the United States of attempting to orchestrate a coup in Venezuela in order to control the country's vast natural resources.
