WASHINGTON: The US has said it will not recognise Venezuela's National Constituent Assembly, terming it as the "illegitimate product" of a "flawed" process.
"The United States will not recognise the National Constituent Assembly," State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert, said in a statement.
She alleged that the process was rigged from the start, from the irregular manner in which the election was decreed to the government's refusal to permit voters to object to plans to rewrite the constitution.
"The United States considers the Venezuelan National Constituent Assembly the illegitimate product of a flawed process designed by the Maduro dictatorship to further its assault on democracy," Nauert said.
"The balloting itself was further designed to fill the National Constituent Assembly with Maduro loyalists. In a country suffering from malnutrition, the regime threatened that those who did not vote would lose access to food, pension, or employment benefits. Finally, the election lacked credible international observation," Nauert said.
Early this week, in an unprecedented move, the Trump administration announced sanctions against President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, in retaliation of the latter's threat against his opposition leaders and the elections which has been denounced by the international community as illegitimate.
Notably, Maduro is only the fourth ever sitting head of state who have been subject to American sanctions.