Republican U.S. lawmakers said on Friday they expected Washington would announce more sanctions on Venezuela if its government proceeds with an effort to elect a legislative body that critics call a plan to create a dictatorship. Republican Senator Marco Rubio, who has worked closely with President Donald Trump’s administration on Latin American issues, held a news conference with two other Republican members of Congress, all from Florida, to discuss the issue ahead of the controversial vote in Venezuela on Sunday. Julio Borges, who leads Venezuela’s opposition-led National Assembly legislature, telephoned in to the news conference to discuss the vote. Rubio noted that the Trump administration had announced sanctions this week, and added, “You can expect more.” The Trump administration imposed sanctions on 13 senior Venezuelan officials on Wednesday, heaping pressure on unpopular President Nicolas Maduro to scrap plans for the new congress. A senior Trump administration […]