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White House Blacklists Venezuelan Leaders for Human Rights Violations
By Kira Zalan and Colby Adams
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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.
