Maduro to sue U.S. gov't over "illegal" decree against Venezuela

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Thursday his government will file a lawsuit in the United States against an executive order that designated the South American nation a security threat.

"Venezuela is going to present a lawsuit in the United States itself, against Obama's illegal international decree, which threatens Venezuela," Maduro said in a televised broadcast.

Maduro said despite Venezuelan efforts to improve diplomatic ties with the U.S. government, Washington has kept up "constant attacks" against Caracas.

On March 9, U.S. President Barack Obama signed a strongly-worded executive order designating Venezuela "a threat to national security," and imposing sanctions against several Venezuelan officials for alleged human rights violations.

"The situation in Venezuela ... constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States and I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat," read the declaration, which many saw as paving the way for a future military strike or imminent economic embargo.

On the heels of the order, the South American country garnered millions of signatures in a petition demanding the removal of the sanctions order.

The order was also met with international consternation over its bellicose wording, leading U.S. officials to downplay it as boilerplate language for implementing sanctions.

According to the Venezuelan News Agency (AVN), Washington has also launched a campaign at this year's United Nations General Assembly sessions to prevent Venezuela's reelection to the UN Human Rights Council.

"Since early yesterday, before the voting, the entire U.S. diplomatic apparatus called on one UN ambassador after another, on prime ministers (and) on presidents, to not vote for Venezuela," Maduro said.

Venezuela was reelected on Wednesday regardless, he added. Enditem