CARACAS (Dispatches) -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said the country’s congress had elected new leadership, hours after the ruling Socialist Party installed a new chief of congress as troops blocked opposition leader Juan Guaido from entering parliament.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo waded into the standoff, denouncing the move by the ruling party to install a new head of Congress. He also congratulated wayward Guaido on "being re-elected” president of the National Assembly, and said Washington continued to support him.
Troops with riot shields blocked Guaido from entering parliament, allowing Maduro’s party to hand the post to legislator Luis Parra.  
"Maduro continues to ignore the constitution and will of the Venezuelan people,” Pompeo claimed.  
Inside the building, the state television broadcast the swearing-in as Assembly president of Luis Parra, a former opposition politician who recently broke with Guaidَ.
Maduro’s ability to remain in power despite U.S. conspiracies owes much to the support of the armed forces, which have remained loyal despite Washington’s efforts to recruit them to the opposition cause. The nation’s courts are also largely supportive of Maduro.
As Trump’s campaign to oust Maduro has repeatedly been thwarted, the United States has ramped up sanctions on Venezuela.
In an interview ahead of Sunday’s vote, Elliott Abrams, the Trump administration’s special representative for Venezuela, confirmed that Washington intends to ramp up the economic pressure on the Latin American country in the months ahead. That will primarily involve imposing more economic sanctions on individuals, companies and other entities allegedly linked to the Maduro government.
Companies in other countries that do business with Venezuela may face new U.S. sanctions, too. Venezuela is a top oil producer, making it a tempting partner for nations seeking energy resources. The U.S. has sanctioned PDVSA, a major Venezuelan state-owned oil firm.
Abrams dismissed claims that the United States is running out of targets to sanction, saying that the Trump administration keeps getting "more and more information from cooperative governments and individuals” about new targets tied to the Maduro government.
The U.S. also hopes to see the European Union and other Latin American countries step up their own imposition of sanctions on Venezuela.  
Guaido’s ambassador to the United States, Carlos Vecchio, echoed Abrams’ assertions that U.S. support for Guaido remains strong nearly a year into the anti-Maduro campaign.