Caracas, March 19 (IANS): Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has said his government will start a world campaign demanding removal of sanctions imposed by the US on the South American nation.

US President Barack Obama issued an executive order on March 9, imposing additional sanctions on Venezuelan officials. He also declared a "state of emergency" as the situation in Venezuela "constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the US", Xinhua news agency reported.

Maduro said on Wednesday that the campaign will be called "Venezuela is not a threat" and will include public gatherings at hundreds of important cities worldwide to condemn Obama's recent decisions.

"Venezuela isn't a threat. We are people of hope, life, joy, future and development. We want to live in a peaceful society. That is why I demand Obama repeal his executive order now," Maduro said.

Domestically, the president added, around 10 million people will sign the recent ad which he published in The New York Times and which will be sent to the White House.

"I have activated all diplomatic mechanisms worldwide and denounced Obama's executive order," Maduro said.

Maduro was thankful for the international support he has received from organisations including the Non-Aligned Movement, which published a statement rejecting the "disproportionate" use of power from Obama, and the Bolivian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America.