Vice President Mike Pence said the US will impose additional sanctions on Venezuelan leaders and pledged more aid to the region as he called on nations to do more to confront embattled President Nicolas Maduro's government.

"To leaders around the world: It's time," Pence said in Bogota, Colombia, on Monday. "There can be no bystanders in Venezuela's struggle for freedom."

"Nicolas Maduro is a usurper with no legitimate claim to power, and Nicolas Maduro must go," Pence said.

The latest violence in Venezuela has steeled the US resolve to support Juan Guaido, US Vice President Mike Pence said while meeting the leader in Bogota. Separately, the EU rejected the idea of a military intervention.

Washington will impose new sanctions against officials of Nicolas Maduro's government, US Vice President Mike Pence said after landing in Colombia on Monday for a summit of the Lima Group.

Pence praised Maduro's rival Juan Guaido after meeting him in Bogota, saying he admired the 35-yearl-old's "courage" in taking a stand against the "dictatorship" of his socialist opponent. The US vice president also relayed a message from President Donald Trump, telling Guaido "we are with you 100 percent."

The US and key Western nations recognize Juan Guaido as interim president of the socialist-ruled country, which remains controlled by Maduro.

Pence said that the weekend's deadly violence in Venezuela, which saw troops loyal to Maduro fire tear gas and buckshot at activists trying to deliver aid, had only boosted the US resolve in supporting Guaido.

He called on members of the Lima Group to follow the US in freezing assets of Venezuela's oil company PDVSA.

In a televised speech, the vice president urged the "good people of Venezuela" to seek their "freedom."

"We will go with you; you go with God. Vaya con Dios," he said.