Pence calls on Venezuela to suspend ‘sham’ May election

Washington (AFP) – US Vice President Mike Pence Monday urged Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro to suspend a May 20 election boycotted by the opposition, denouncing the vote as a “fraud.”

“The so-called elections scheduled are nothing more than a fraud and a sham,” Pence said in an address to the Organization of American States in Washington.

“We call on Maduro to suspend the sham elections, and hold real elections,” Pence said in an address, which came as Washington unveiled a new raft of sanctions against Caracas.