The European Union on Monday urged the United States and Latin American powers against launching a military intervention to oust the regime of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.

Venezuela's self-declared “interim president” Juan Guaido met with Mike Pence and Latin American leaders in neighbouring Colombia, to discuss the next steps in the crisis after a weekend of violence.

Mr Guaido, arriving in Bogota on Sunday night ahead of the meeting of the Lima Group, called on the international community to consider "all measures to free" Venezuela. The meeting was the first time that Mr Guaido, who declared himself president a month ago, has travelled abroad to meet other world leaders, and he was received as a head of state, with the red carpet rolled out.

Mr Guaido and President Donald Trump have repeatedly said that all options are open. Mr Pence was expected to announce on Monday night that they had decided to increase the sanctions on Nicolas Maduro, the embattled president of Venezuela. Ahead of the meeting four Venezuelan officials were added to the already extensive list of sanctioned individuals.

On Monday he also called on Latin American allies to ramp up pressure on Caracas by transferring Venezuelan overseas assets to Mr Guaido.