U.S. imposes first economic sanctions against Venezuela

BY PATRICIA MAZZEI AND FRANCO ORDOÑEZ
AUGUST 25, 2017 11:30 AM

The U.S. imposed its first economic penalties against Venezuela on Friday, hitting the South American country’s financial sector in an attempt to starve President Nicolás Maduro’s government of cash.

The Trump administration banned trades of Venezuelan debt, prohibiting Maduro’s government and its state-run oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela SA, from selling new bonds to Americans or in U.S. financial institutions. President Donald Trump signed an executive order approving the sanctions Thursday.

“In an effort to preserve itself, the Maduro dictatorship rewards and enriches corrupt officials in the government’s security apparatus by burdening future generations of Venezuelans with massively expensive debts,” Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement.

“These measures are carefully calibrated to deny the Maduro dictatorship a critical source of financing to maintain its illegitimate rule, protect the United States financial system from complicity in Venezuela’s corruption and in the impoverishment of the Venezuelan people, and allow for humanitarian assistance.”

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Trump signs executive order imposing 'strong, new financial sanctions on the dictatorship in Venezuela'

Christine Wang
Published 7 Mins Ago | Updated 1 Min Ago

President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order slapping financial sanctions on Nicolas Maduro's regime in Venezuela.

The White House slammed Maduro, saying in a statement that his "dictatorship continues to deprive the Venezuelan people of food and medicine, imprison the democratically-elected opposition, and violently suppress freedom of speech."