US to sanction Maduro-aligned officials, to put pressure on Venezuela’s president to accept election results
CNN
The United States announced new individual sanctions Wednesday on more than 20 officials aligned with Venezuela’s authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro, to put pressure on Maduro to accept the results of Venezuela’s July presidential election, senior administration officials said in a briefing with reporters.
The United States announced new individual sanctions Wednesday on more than 20 officials aligned with Venezuela’s authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro, to put pressure on Maduro to accept the results of Venezuela’s July presidential election, senior administration officials said in a briefing with reporters. Thursday marks exactly four months from the July election, and senior officials believe the new sanctions will put pressure on Venezuelan officials to break ranks from the Maduro government and facilitate a democratic transition in that country. The new round of sanctions target military officials in the Bolivarian National Guard, Bolivarian National Police and other branches of the security apparatus, the US officials said. Among the officials sanctioned Wednesday are Maduro’s newly-installed chief of staff, Anibal Coronado, Communication Minister Freddy Ñañez, and the director of intelligence services Alexis Rodriguez. Widespread oil sanctions and general licenses granting certain companies, such as US oil major Chevron, to do business in Venezuela remain in place but are “constantly being reviewed,” one of the officials said. The announcement of the sanctions comes just one week after the United States has formally recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez as the country’s president-elect following the disputed July 28 presidential election, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on X.
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