Venezuela: No More Trump campaign reaches 4M signatures

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

ANKARA (AA) - Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro announced that an anti-Trump drive launched in early August to stand against U.S. measures has reached 4 million signatures.

"We are making history by going massively to sign against imperial aggressions," Nicolas Maduro tweeted Thursday. "It is an extraordinary show of conscience and dignity to tell the world that here there is a nation determined to be free."

"Four million signatures and we go for more!" Maduro said.

The No More Trump campaign seeks to collect 13 million signatures and will run until it is submitted to the UN General Assembly meetings where Venezuela will urge Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to make a statement on White House's coercive sanctions.

Washington's move earlier this month to freeze all assets of the Venezuelan government was a significant escalation of tensions with the South American nation.

The U.S. administration has been focusing on economic and diplomatic pressure against Maduro, including imposing sanctions on him, his top officials and several governmental departments as it seeks to increase pressure on Caracas.

Venezuela's economy has been in precipitous decline following a global downturn in the price of crude oil, the country's main export, while the ongoing political unrest also affects the country's financial stability.

Since the beginning of the year, Venezuela has been embroiled in political unrest as Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido engage in a power battle.

Nearly 5,000 people leave Venezuela every day because of "instability and uncertainty" amid a crisis focused on the presidency and economy, and 3 million Venezuelans have already left the country since 2015, according to the UN's refugee agency.