U.S. President Donald Trump's special representative for Venezuela pledged on Thursday that Washington would "expand the net" of sanctions on the South American nation, including more on banks supporting President Nicolas Maduro's government.
"There will be more sanctions on financial institutions that are carrying out the orders of the Maduro regime," Elliott Abrams told a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing.
The United States and dozens of other countries have recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as oil-rich Venezuela's interim president and increased pressure on Maduro, a socialist, to step down.