WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Monday dismissed Venezuela’s presidential election as a “sham,” vowing to take quick action to ramp up economic and diplomatic pressure on President Nicolas Maduro’s beleaguered government.

Vice President Mike Pence asserted that it had been “neither free nor fair.” He called it a “fake process” whose result was illegitimate, calling the move to hold the election “a further blow to the proud democratic tradition of Venezuela.”

Even before the vote, the United States had urged Venezuela not to hold it and insisted that any outcome would not be considered legitimate.