Leftist leaders from Latin America gathered in Venezuela’s capital as US pressure has been mounting on Caracas.

President’s Raul Castro of Cuba and Evo Morales of Bolivia were among those in attendance for the annual Alliance for the People of Our America’s summit.

The meeting comes as US mulls new sanctions on Venezuela to pressure Maduro, who is running for reelection in May.

The possible new sanctions would target Venezuela’s vital oil sector beyond what has been done before, including an eventual full-scale ban on Venezuelan oil shipments to the United States.

Washington has already slapped financial sanctions on Venezuela, forbidding American citizens and companies to negotiate debt issued by the Caracas government and the state oil company PDVSA.