BackDonald Trump hits Venezuela with financial sanctions on finals days in office
The US Treasury Department hit three individuals, 14 business entities and six ships with financial measuresTrump has led an international coalition over the last two years by exerting increasing pressure on Maduro to end what US officials call his illegitimate hold on power
PremiumThe Trump administration issued a parting shot to Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro on Tuesday, announcing a sweeping round of stiff financial sanctions that target a network accused of moving oil on behalf of the president's alleged frontman.
The US Treasury Department hit three individuals, 14 business entities and six ships with financial measures. They're accused of assisting the Venezuelan oil firm PDVSA, under Maduro's control, of outmaneuvering earlier U.S. sanctions designed to stop the president from profiting from crude sales.
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Trump, who leaves the White House on Wednesday, has led an international coalition over the last two years by exerting increasing pressure on Maduro to end what U.S. officials call his illegitimate hold on power.
The White House recognizes Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the nation's legitimate leader, blaming Maduro for Venezuela's economic and political ruin.
“The United States remains committed to targeting those enabling the Maduro regime’s abuse of Venezuela’s natural resources," U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said in a statement.
The fresh sanctions target people and businesses linked with Alex Saab, a Colombian businessman who U.S. officials say is a close associate of Maduro. Saab is jailed in the African nation of Cape Verde while fighting extradition to the U.S. to face corruption charges.
The primary figures targeted by the sanctions are Alessandro Bazzoni, Francisco Javier D’Agostino Casado, Philipp Paul Vartan Apikian, Elemento Ltd., and Swissoil Trading SA.
Bazzoni, a London-based Italian commodities trader, declined a request by The Associated Press to comment.
Venezuelan officials, who didn't immediately comment on the sanctions, often blame the U.S. for leading an “economic war" with the end goal of installing Guaidó as the head of a “puppet" government to steal Venezuela's vast oil reserves.
Sanctions by the U.S. Treasury's Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control block any assets that targeted individuals and businesses have in U.S. jurisdictions and bar Americans from conducting financial transactions with them.
The U.S. Department of Commerce also announced measures on Tuesday to block U.S. technology from being used by military intelligence in nations including China, Cuba, Russia and Venezuela.
Commerce officials in a statement said in Venezuela they seek to deprive the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence of any U.S. technology. Human rights groups accuse the counterintelligence agency of abuses against its own citizens, including torture.
U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo spoke Monday by phone with Guaidó. White House spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said the two talked about their shared goal to see a peaceful democratic transition in Venezuela.
Pompeo expressed his “personal respect and appreciation" to Guaidó for the opposition leader’s “commitment to the cause of freedom and his inspiring leadership to millions of Venezuelans yearning for a brighter future," Ortagus said.
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This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.
