Obama to Pass Sanctions on Venezuela Government, President Nicolas Maduro Tells Washington to Stick Them 'in Their Ears'

On Monday, the U.S. Senate approved legislation to impose sanctions on the Venezuelan government, and President Barack Obama has signaled he would sign the legislation into law.

On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation to impose sanctions saying that Venezuelan government officials are found to have violated protesters' rights during demonstrations this year, according to Reuters.

Press secretary Josh Earnest said Thursday Obama will sign the bill that would freeze assets of officials involved in violating protesters' rights. Officials would also be denied visas.

According to Fox News, earlier this year, there was a government crackdown in Venezuela where demonstrations went on for three months over crime and the economy, opposing Venezuela's socialist government. The country's opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez arrested thousands of people and left 43 dead.

"The absence of justice and the denial of human rights in Venezuela must end, and the U.S. Congress is playing a powerful part in righting this wrong," said Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and author of the bipartisan Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Act. "When this bill becomes law, a spotlight will shine on Venezuela's abusers and target individuals responsible for human rights violations by applying asset-freezes and visa bans."

U.S. diplomats tried diffusing the issue with international mediators when lawmakers first wanted to impose sanctions on the OPEC country over the summer. Yet their actions failed, according to the Washington Post.

"The gringos say they want to sanction Venezuela," Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said. "No one can sanction Venezuela because our people decided to be free and will be free, regardless of what happens, with sanctions or without them."

Maduro also told the paper to "stick the sanctions in their ears or whatever else they'll fit."

Lawmakers have been warned that U.S.-imposed sanctions would give Maduro a leg up on claiming that Venezuela is a victim of U.S. bullying.