John Bolton said that the United States "hangs economically" on the Maduro regime "like Darth Vader in Star Wars"

The National Security Advisor of the White House, John Bolton, said Friday that the arrest of the police chief Juan Guaidó, Roberto Marrero, is a "great mistake of the regime" Nicolás Maduro and warns: "we do not play".

In an interview with the Hispanic network Univision Bolton said that "more important actions" will come if there is no progress towards a democratic transition in Venezuela.

"This act of repression (the arrest of Marrero) by the Maduro regime is a serious mistake. We have warned them as clearly as possible that they should not do anything that interferes with the operations of the interim government (…), "he said.

On the new sanctions says that its effect is "continuous and cumulative".

"It's like in 'Star Wars', when Darth Vader suspends someone, that's what we do economically with the diet."he said.

"We did not boast," said Bolton in an interview during which he hinted that there could be more sanctions against the banking sector.

Bolton participated Friday in a meeting of President Donald Trump with the governors of The Bahamas, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Haiti and the Dominican Republic in Mar-a-Lago, his residence in Palm Beach, in Southeastern Florida.

Following this meeting, the US government announced Friday sanctions against the National Development Bank of Venezuela (Bands) and its subsidiaries in Uruguay and Bolivia, as well as the banks Banco de Venezuela and Banco Bicentenario.

The decision, according to an official statement, was adopted "in response to the illegal arrest" of the head of the office of the Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó, supported by the United States and fifty countries as a President in charge of Venezuela.

In his statements to Univision, Bolton said that "the goal is to quickly resolve this crisis for the benefit of the Venezuelan people and to ensure that the Maduro regime transfers power to the Guaidó government in a peaceful manner so that we can to have free and fair elections ".

The tension in Venezuela has increased since last January 23, Juan Guaidó, president of the Venezuelan Parliament, has been entrusted with the powers of the executive as president in charge of the country because he considered Nicolás Maduro as illegitimate after being reelected in the elections criticized by the opposition. "fraudulent".

This action has accelerated the political crisis in Venezuela because, in addition, a large part of the international community, such as the United States and several countries of Europe and Latin America, has supported Guaidó and called for elections to be called.