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US Condemns Venezuela for Alleged Involvement in Opposition Activist's Death

by VOA News

   The U.S. denounced Wednesday what it said was the Venezuelan
   government's participation in the death of opposition activist Fernando
   Alban.

   The White House said in a statement the U.S. would continue to pressure
   the government "until democracy is restored in Venezuela."

   The White House also called for "the immediate release of all
   Venezuelan political prisoners, and for the Maduro regime to take
   direct, credible steps to re-establish democracy in Venezuela and to
   prevent further suffering and bloodshed."

   Alban was a Caracas City Council member who was accused of being
   involved in an unsuccessful drone attack on President Nicolas Maduro.
   Alban was in pre-trial detention Monday when he died after falling from
   a window.

   Venezuelan authorities said Alban committed suicide.

   The U.S. imposed new sanctions on Maduro's wife and several of Maduro's
   allies in late September, as President Donald Trump urged the United
   Nations to support a restoration of democracy in the oil-rich nation.

   The sanctions increase pressure on a government that has been widely
   criticize for the collapse of its economy and efforts to undermine
   democracy.