The United States on Monday blacklisted seven former and current Venezuelan military and law enforcement officials for their alleged roles in violent crackdowns on protestors. In an executive order barring the individuals from entering the United States and ordering related asset freezes, President Barack Obama said the designees had undermined democratic processes, contributed to human rights abuses, limited peaceable assemblies or acted corruptly while serving in Venezuela's government. The individuals include Manuel Eduardo Perez Urdaneta, director of Venezuela's Bolivarian National Police, Katherine Nayarith Haringhton Padron, a governmental attorney linked to the prosecution of the political opponents of Venezuela's President Nicolas...
U.S. officials are weighing the imposition of new travel and financial restrictions on individuals and companies in Venezuela in light of the country's deteriorating institutional and economic crisis.
U.S. officials are increasingly relying on economic sanctions as a tool of foreign policy, but the effectiveness of sanctions in achieving policy objectives is questionable, according to Bryan Early, political science professor at University at Albany.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a measure Wednesday clearing the way for financial sanctions against Venezuelan officials implicated in the country's violent crackdown on antigovernment demonstrators.
The U.S. government Friday blacklisted two senior Venezuelan officials and a former official - all in high-ranking positions pledged to fight criminals and terrorists - for aiding a designated terrorist group, a glancing blow to a country becoming increasingly more hostile to the U.S.
Iran is considering purchasing at least one of three Venezuelan banks to circumvent international sanctions requiring many of the world's banks to freeze the funds of five Iranian financial institutions, according to anti-money laundering consultants and Iranian news reports cited by the BBC.