US imposes new sanctions on Venezuelan officials

The United States on Friday ramped up its attempt to dislodge Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power, imposing new sanctions and revoking visas, while opposition leader Juan Guaido said Maduro's support among the military was cracking.

A day after Russia and China vetoed a US and European resolution at the UN Security Council that called for unimpeded aid deliveries, Washington said it was targeting six Venezuelan military officers for stopping last weekend's US-led convoy.

Four people were killed in the melee as Maduro's forces prevented the 178 metric tonnes of rice, beans and other food from crossing, with the leftist strongman seeing the aid as a pretext for a US-led invasion.

Foreign military intervention is seen as unlikely and Guaido's international backers are instead using a mix of sanctions and diplomacy to try to put pressure to bear on Maduro.

"We are sanctioning members of Maduro's security forces in response to the reprehensible violence, tragic deaths, and unconscionable torching of food and medicine destined for sick and starving Venezuelans," U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

The U.S. will continue to target Maduro loyalists prolonging the suffering of the victims of this man-made humanitarian crisis," he said.

U.S. sanctions block any assets the individual's control in the U.S. and bars American entities from doing any business or financial transactions with them.

The list includes National Guard Cmdr. Richard Lopez and five other police and military officials based near the Colombian or Brazilian borders.

The U.S. State Department later said it had revoked the travel visas of 49 people as it cracked down on "individuals responsible for undermining Venezuela's democracy."

Guaido, whom Washington has recognized as interim president, had hoped to triumph in bringing in the stockpiles of food, which the United States coordinated with Colombia and Brazil.

Guaido has said that 300,000 people could die without an influx of aid into Venezuela. The United Nations says 2.7 million Venezuelans have fled since 2015 as the socialist economy crumbles, with basic supplies out of reach to the masses.

More than 50 countries recognize Guaido as Venezuela's president -- but Maduro enjoys strong support from Russia, who is eager to challenge US interventionism, as well as China, which is concerned over the fate of billions of dollars Beijing has lent to Caracas.