Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has accused the U.S. of trying to create a crisis with the intent of starting a war in the region, VOA news reports.
“They are trying to fabricate a crisis to justify political escalation and a military intervention in Venezuela to bring war to South America,” Maduro said in an interview with ABC News in the Caracas presidential palace.
Monday, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence announced an additional $56 million in humanitarian aid to Venezuelans as he met in Colombia with opposition leader Juan Guaido and other representatives of the Lima Group, an intergovernmental body tasked with establishing solutions to the Venezuelan crisis.
Pence announced sanctions against four Venezuelan state governors who support Maduro and also said the U.S. would impose “stronger sanctions” on the Maduro government’s “corrupt financial networks.”
Maduro described the Bogota meeting as part of an ongoing effort to establish a “parallel government in Venezuela” so that the U.S. can access the country’s vast oil reserves.
“The extremist Ku Klux Klan government that [U.S. President] Donald Trump directs wants a war over oil, and more than just oil,” Maduro added.
The Lima Group meeting followed a violent weekend along Venezuela’s borders with Brazil and Colombia, where food, medicine and other aid — much of it sent by the U.S. — is sitting in warehouses waiting to be delivered.
Maduro has refused to let the aid into the country, calling it the pretext for a U.S. invasion.
Guaido heads Venezuela’s National Assembly. He invoked the constitution to declare himself interim president after calling Maduro’s leadership illegitimate because of election fraud.
The U.S. was the first to recognize Guaido as president, followed by about 50 other countries.
Lima Group members want the International Criminal Court to declare Maduro’s refusal to let humanitarian aid into the country a “crime against humanity,” but ruled out the use of force to push Maduro out of office to make way for new elections.
“The transition to democracy must be conducted peacefully by Venezuelans within the framework of the constitution and international law, supported by political and diplomatic measures without the use of force,” the group said in a statement.
But Guaido wants the international community to consider all options in dealing with Maduro.
“All political and diplomatic resources have been exhausted,” Guaido told group members. “Now, what can we do as a region in order to support Venezuela?” he asked.
Trump has said all options are on the table, but he has not specified under what conditions he would send military forces to the area.