​​​​​​​Trump’s sanctions on Venezuela meant to poison the waters: Analyst

US President Donald Trump’s sanctions against Venezuela are meant to poison the waters before the Biden administration takes charge on January 20, an American political commentator says.

The United States on Friday imposed what Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called "stupid sanctions" on a Venezuelan company that assisted the country’s parliamentary elections.

Ex-Cle C.A., the Venezuelan subsidiary of a company by a similar name in Argentina, has "millions of dollars of contracts" with the government of Maduro, US officials said on Friday.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed that the company bought Chinese voting machines that were used in manipulating electoral process.

Maduro: Pompeo imposes 'stupid sanctions' on Venezuela

The United States has imposed "stupid sanctions" on a Venezuelan company that assisted the country’s parliamentary elections.

“Frankly, there’s no real legs to stand on in terms of credibility on this matter. And in fact it only serves to point out the ridiculousness of the position that the Trump administration simultaneously is holding there,” Wyatt Reed told Press TV on Tuesday.

“Essentially, at this point apparently there are no legitimate elections, certainly not in Americas, according to the Trump administration,” he said.

“This is a kind of a decision that is meant to poison the waters and ensure that any future administration, specifically the Biden administration, is going to have the tougher times negotiating with the Venezuelans,” he stated.

“This is something we also see playing out of course in Iran, in China. In terms of the US foreign policy, they are going out of their way to antagonize any country that has developed outside the acceptable limits of the US foreign policy establishment,” he noted.

An alliance close to Maduro won a major score during the general vote, which Washington claims to have been rigged.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has waged a campaign of sanctions and diplomatic measures in a bid to oust Maduro.

The Trump administration has even repeatedly threatened to use military force to topple Maduro’s government.

Maduro revealed last week that there was an attempt on his life on the day of the parliamentary elections, which his ruling socialist party won by a landslide. The elections were held on December 6.

The Venezuelan president implicated the leader of neighboring Colombia in the plot, accusing President Ivan Duque of playing “a role in the plans to organize my assassination.”

The Venezuelan leader has on multiple occasions held to task Colombia and its ally, the United States, for having plotted to eliminate him and his senior military officials since a long time ago.

Earlier this year, he was alerted to “a decision in the north and in Colombia by the oligarchy to assassinate" him.

He said both countries were governed by extremists, recalling how Washington had orchestrated a coup to topple his government last year.

Advisers close to US President-elect Joe Biden have said the new administration would try to negotiate with Caracas without any pre-conditions to end the crisis there.

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