US sanctions 16 Venezuelan officials with Maduro's links

The Biden administration announced on Thursday that it would impose U.S. Sanctions on 16 allies to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as a response to voter fraud during the country's elections and the subsequent crackdown by his government on the political opponents.

This move comes just days after Edmundo Gonzales, who was recognized as the winner of the presidential election on July 28, by the U.S., and other countries, fled to Spain, after Maduro issued a warrant calling for his arrest.

The list includes other people linked to the election, as well as military and intelligence officials accused of post-election repression. List includes other officials linked to the elections, as well as military and Intelligence officials accused of post election repression.

As part of Washington's first punitive measures to respond to Maduro’s disputed reelection claims, Secretary of state Antony Blinken announced that Washington would also be imposing visa restrictions for an unspecified amount of "Maduro aligned" officials.

The U.S. did not announce any new sanctions against the vital energy sector of the OPEC members, as it is already heavily sanctioned by the U.S. This omission raises concerns about the impact of new measures.

The administration of President Joe Biden is trying to punish Maduro, his supporters and the U.S. for what they see as the failure to deliver on the promise that a democratic election would be competitive. They are also pressing him into negotiating with the opposition.

In a press release, Wally Adeyemo, Deputy Treasury Secretary said that the Treasury Department was targeting officials who were involved in Maduro’s fraudulent and illegitimate claim of victory as well as his brutal crackdown against free speech following the elections. The overwhelming majority of Venezuelans are calling for change.

Venezuelan Foreign Ministry Yvan Gil stated in a Telegram message that his government rejects the "new crime against Venezuela by the United States in imposing unilaterally illegitimate, illegal and coercive measures on officials of state."

Transparency is demanded by many

Venezuela's highest court and election officials have confirmed that Maduro won the elections. Maduro is a socialist who has been at power since 2013. The opposition claimed that the tallies gathered by their observers showed a resounding win for Gonzalez.

Many democratic countries condemned Maduro's claim of victory without proof, demanded complete transparency, and accused Maduro of tampering the vote count.

Gonzalez, a veteran 75-year old diplomat, fled to Spain last weekend to seek political asylum after Venezuelan authorities had threatened to arrest him and accused him of conspiracy, among other crimes. He denied the charges.

The hopes of Venezuelans for a political change are largely gone with Gonzalez's departure, the crackdown after the election and the failure by the international community to take any decisive actions to loosen Maduro’s grip on the power.

Washington's cautious reaction, according to some U.S. officials, is due to concerns about possible actions that would spike oil prices globally or cause serious damage to Venezuela’s economy. They fear that this could lead to an increase in Venezuelan migrants heading to the U.S./Mexico border.

Aides to Biden, and vice president Kamala Harris who replaced him as the Democratic nominee for the U.S. elections on Nov. 5, are cautious about giving Republicans an additional opening on the controversial immigration issue.

A senior U.S. Official told reporters that a "range" of options were being considered, but declined to provide any details.

New Treasury sanctions require the freezing of all U.S. assets owned by officials targeted.

There are doubts about the effectiveness such individual sanctions given that Washington already targeted over 140 Venezuelan officials in 2017, including Maduro, and placed U.S. Visa Bans on almost 2,000 people.

The U.S. official said that the sanctions were a crucial step to pressuring Maduro into "better decisions" regarding Venezuela's political state before the presidential inauguration of January.

Washington, which had rejected Maduro’s 2018 reelection, as a fraud, had largely eased sanctions against Venezuela’s oil industry in October last year, following a deal reached between Maduro’s government and the opposition. In April, the U.S. reinstated the sanctions after Maduro failed to fulfill most of his election commitments. (Additional reporting by Doina Schiacu in Washington, and Vivian Sequera at Caracas. Editing by Rosalba o'Brien.)

(source: Reuters)