Venezuela delegate reads book to snub Trump during UN speech
A member of the Venezuelan delegation attending the United Nations General Assembly has apparently snubbed US President Donald Trump while he was addressing the international body.
The diplomat from the leftist Latin American country decided to ignore Trump by reading a book rather than listening to his speech on Tuesday.
In the part of his speech related to Venezuela,Trump described Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as being both a "dictator" and a "Cuban puppet”.
He then threatened Caracas, warning that Washington was watching the country closely and waiting for them to restore "democracy" to the nation.
As soon as Trump started the barrage of personal insults and veiled threats targeting Maduro and the Venezuelan government, the female delegate picked up a book about South American freedom fighter and famous national hero Simon Bolivar, and began skimming through and reading from it.
Maduro, himself, did not attend the assembly meeting, opting instead to travel to Moscow to meet with close ally Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the US on Tuesday announced fresh sanctions against Venezuela, targeting its ties with its ally Cuba.
The move is the latest escalation of US sanctions aimed at undermining Maduro's government.
Caracas, in response, has launched a worldwide campaign in denunciation of US economic sanctions against the Latin American country and garnered more than 13 million signatures as part of an official petition set to be delivered to the United Nations.
The United Nations says the US-imposed economic sanctions on Venezuela has left a quarter of the country's 30 million people in need of humanitarian aid.
The latest sanctions target four companies -- three registered in Panama and one in Cyprus -- that ship oil from Venezuela to Cuba, and names four specific oil tankers.
The companies are Caroil Transport Marine Ltd., which is based in Cyprus, and Panama-based Trocana World Inc., Tovase Development Corp and Bluelane Overseas SA.
All assets belonging to the four companies located in the US were frozen and they are prohibited from using the American financial system or doing business in the United States, barring them from much of the global financial system.
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