HAVANA, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Monday called on the international community to denounce potential U.S. military intervention in Venezuela.

"Let's raise our voices against U.S. intervention in Venezuela," Diaz-Canel tweeted.

He called for support for an initiative by the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) to declare Latin America and the Caribbean a "Zone of Peace."

Diaz-Canel made the appeal amid stepped up rhetoric against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro from the so-called Lima Group, a hemispheric bloc of countries mostly aligned with Washington, which is backing the Venezuelan opposition's push to unseat Maduro.

The group met in Bogota earlier in the day to renew its call for Maduro to hand over the reins to Juan Guaido, the opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence attended the gathering and announced new economic and diplomatic sanctions against Venezuelan officials loyal to Maduro.