Venezuelan authorities on Thursday continued to barricade a key border crossing with Colombia to prevent aid from entering the country. The military used a tanker and two large containers to block the Tienditas Bridge. National Assembly Leader Juan Guaidó, who invoked a clause in the Venezuelan Constitution to become interim president, had promised to bring much-needed food and medicine into the country. Inflation in Venezuela tops 1 million percent, and the country suffers from food and medicine shortages.

Several more European Union nations on Monday recognized Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s interim president after embattled dictator Nicolás Maduro ignored a Sunday deadline to call for new elections. Britain, France, Germany, and Spain all urged Maduro to allow a national vote or resign. “We are working for the return of full democracy in Venezuela: human rights, elections, and no more political prisoners,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez told reporters in Madrid. Austria, Denmark, Lithuania, the Netherlands, and Sweden also threw support behind Guaidó.

In one of the most remarkable moments in Latin America’s modern history, thousands of Venezuelans packed a public square in Caracas on Jan. 23 and exulted as Juan Guaidó took the oath of presidency, declaring dictator Nicolás Maduro’s power illegitimate.

U.S. officials quickly declared support for the new leadership and urged Maduro to relinquish his brutal grip on a country suffering from one of the most severe economic and humanitarian crises in the world.

Embattled Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Wednesday said he is open to talks with his opponents after a more than weeklong stalemate over the legitimacy of his government. Maduro told the Russian state-owned RIA Novosti news agency he would participate in negotiations mediated by international players, including Bolivia, Mexico, Russia, Uruguay, or the Vatican. “I’m willing to sit down for talks with the opposition so that we could talk for the sake of Venezuela’s peace and its future,” he said. Maduro also accused U.S.

The United States on Tuesday gave self-declared interim President Juan Guaidó control of the Venezuelan government’s accounts in U.S.-insured banks, turning up the pressure on embattled President Nicolás Maduro to step down. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and national security adviser John Bolton on Monday announced sanctions against the state-run oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela. The sanctions will block Maduro’s access to $7 billion in assets and could lead to $11 billion dollars in lost exports over the next year, Bolton said.

The struggle for control of Venezuela turned to the military over the weekend. Supporters of the U.S.-backed leader, Juan Guaidó, distributed leaflets to soldiers detailing a proposed amnesty law that would protect them if they helped remove embattled President Nicolás Maduro from power. Maduro, meanwhile, appeared on state TV in tan fatigues, observing military exercises and talking with soldiers.

The U.S. State Department late Thursday ordered nonessential government staff to leave Venezuela, citing security concerns, and asked U.S. citizens to “strongly consider” evacuating. Embattled President Nicolás Maduro on Wednesday gave a 72-hour deadline for all U.S. diplomats to leave the country, but Washington refused since it no longer recognizes Maduro’s leadership.