Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said earlier in the day that the United States had signed off on an attempted coup in Venezuela by calling on the country's armed forces to support the opposition parliament.
During a speech at the White House, US National Security Adviser John Bolton said that all options were on the table regarding the current situation in Venezuela.
"We want as our principal objective a peaceful transfer of power," Bolton said. "But I will say again: [Venezuela's President] Nicolas Maduro and those supporting him, particularly those who are not Venezuelans, should know that all options are on the table."
The senior official further claimed that Venezuelan Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino, Supreme Court chief judge Maikel Moreno and presidential guard commander Ivan Rafael Hernandez Dala must make good on commitments they purportedly made to the opposition for a peaceful transition of power away from Maduro.
Earlier in the day, Venezuelan opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president of the country Juan Guaido published a video calling on soldiers to join the ranks of his supporters against Maduro.
Earlier, Maduro accused Washington of orchestrating a coup to install Guaido as a US puppet. Russia, China and several other states support Maduro as the country’s legitimate president.
US law enforcement officials blocked off the entrance of the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington on Tuesday amid ongoing protests over the handling of the crisis in the Latin American country, a Sputnik correspondent reported from the embassy.
About 30 policemen with handcuffs arrived at the Venezuelan Embassy, which has been occupied by activists for more than two weeks, blocking the entrance from 30th Street.
The goal of the protesters is to prevent US-backed opposition figure Juan Guaido and his so-called government from taking possession of the building.
The situation in front of the embassy has been exacerbated amid tensions in the Venezuelan capital Caracas, where Juan Guaido released a video on Tuesday morning with a call on the country's military to join in the final stage of his so-called "Operation Freedom" from the La Carlota military base with the goal of ending the “usurpation of power” by President Maduro.
Maduro's government has slammed Guaido's actions as a coup attempt by a small group of "military traitors" who are seeking to fill "the country with violence". He later said that almost all military leaders remained loyal, despite Guaido's call.
The situation on the streets of Caracas remained largely calm with separate reports of clashes.
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