US imposes sanctions on Maduro allies over ‘illegitimate’ election results

Washington says new penalties should prompt ‘deeper reflection’ by officials aligned with Venezuelan president

...Thursday’s sanctions name officials in Venezuela’s military, intelligence sector and government who allegedly were “responsible for intensifying repression through intimidation, indiscriminate detentions and censorship” after the vote.

While the US Treasury Department described the measures as “decisive”, many of the Venezuelan officials sanctioned on Thursday were already under US penalties.

The sanctions, enforced by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), freeze the individuals’ assets in the US and prohibit Americans from engaging in financial transitions with them...

...But the Venezuelan government and large sectors of the country’s economy have been under heavy US sanctions for years, as a result of human rights concerns and alleged democratic backsliding. Washington’s approach has so far failed to topple Maduro.

In 2020, the US announced a $15m reward for information that would lead to the arrest of the Venezuelan president, after indicting him on “narco-terrorism” charges...

...In 2019, the US and several of its allies in the Western Hemisphere recognised opposition leader Juan Guaido as the legitimate president of Venezuela.

That same year, Washington expanded the sweeping sanctions against Caracas, deepening Venezuela’s economic woes, which have prompted nearly eight million people to leave the country...

aljazeera.com - US imposes sanctions on maduro allies over illegitimate election results