Venezuelans seek 10 million signatures in anti-US petition

Venezuelans have launched a petition to collect 10 million signatures against Washington’s aggression against Caracas.

The petition, backed by the supporters of President Nicolas Maduro, also asks US President Barack Obama to revoke a recent order freezing the assets of Venezuelan officials.

German Pacheco, one of the people who lined up at Plaza Bolivar in downtown Caracas to sign the petition, referred to Obama and said “all he wants to do is to take ownership of the country (Venezuela)’s oil wealth.”

The initiative came after Obama signed an executive order on March 9, labeling Venezuela an “extraordinary threat to national security.”

Maduro reacted by calling the US an “imperialist threat.”

Under Obama’s order, the US property and bank accounts of seven Venezuelan officials, including former national guard chief Antonio Benavides, intelligence chief Gustavo Gonzales and national police chief Manuel Perez, will be frozen and they will be denied US visas.

Washington accuses the officials of rights violations in relation to last year’s protests in Venezuela. Caracas denies the allegations.

On March 17, the 11-nation Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) slammed the US move. Earlier this week, the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) also urged Obama to revoke his executive order against Venezuela.

Caracas and Washington have been at odds since late Hugo Chavez became Venezuela’s president in 1999. Both sides have refused to exchange ambassadors since 2010.