Maduro Isolated As US Vows Action Over 'sham' Venezuela Polls

Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published May 21, 2018 | 11:32 PM

Venezuela faced growing international isolation and a deepening economic crisis Monday following President Nicolas Maduro's contested re-election as the United States threatened punitive measures against his regime over the "sham" vote

Caracas, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st May, 2018 ) :Venezuela faced growing international isolation and a deepening economic crisis Monday following President Nicolas Maduro's contested re-election as the United States threatened punitive measures against his regime over the "sham" vote.

The stern reaction from Washington further ratcheted up the pressure on the leftist Maduro, after the Lima Group's 14 members, including regional powers Argentina, Brazil and Canada moved to recall their ambassadors in protest at the opposition-boycotted vote.

Addressing cheering supporters outside Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Maduro celebrated his election to another six-year term as a "historic record," after officials credited him with 68 percent of votes cast, far ahead of the 21 percent for his nearest rival, ex-army officer Henri Falcon.

But with Venezuela's long-suffering population enduring an economic crisis marked by food and medicine shortages, violent unrest and a mass exodus by hundreds of thousands, the vote was marred by historic 52 percent abstention, and boycotted by the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) opposition coalition as a "farce.

" Washington echoed that assessment with Vice President Mike Pence denouncing the vote as a "sham" and "illegitimate," and brandished the threat of new sanctions.

"The United States stands with democratic nations in support of the Venezuelan people and will take swift economic and diplomatic actions to support the restoration of their democracy," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.

"Until the Maduro regime restores a democratic path in Venezuela through free, fair, and transparent elections, the government faces isolation from the international community."