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Sanctions during the Venezuelan crisis

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A map of countries that have introduced sanctions against Venezuela in response to the outgoing crisis in Venezuela
  Venezuela
  Countries that introduced sanctions
  European Union-countries that have collectively introduced sanctions
  Non-E.U. European countries that aligned with E.U. sanctions
  Countries introducing entry bans on Maduro government officials

During the crisis in Venezuela, governments of the United States, the European Union (E.U.), Canada, Mexico, Panama and Switzerland applied individual sanctions against people associated with the administration of Nicolás Maduro. The sanctions were in response to repression during the 2014 Venezuelan protests and the 2017 Venezuelan protests, and activities during the 2017 Venezuelan Constituent Assembly election and the 2018 Venezuelan presidential election. Sanctions were placed on current and former government officials, including members of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) and the 2017 Constituent National Assembly (ANC), members of the military and security forces, and private individuals accused of being involved in human rights abuses, corruption, degradation in the rule of law and repression of democracy.

Beginning in January 2019, during the Venezuelan presidential crisis, after applying sanctions first to individuals, the U.S. applied additional economic sanctions in the petroleum, gold, mining, food and banking industries. Through April 2019, the U.S. sanctioned more than 150 companies, vessels and individuals, in addition to revoking visas of 718 individuals associated with Maduro.[1] By September 2019, the Center for Strategic and International Studies said 119 Venezuelans had been sanctioned by the U.S. and several other countries.[2]

A 2019 report published by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stated that although the "pervasive and devastating" crisis pre-dated the sanctions, the new sanctions could worsen the situation;[3][4] an April 2019, Human Rights Watch and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health joint report came to the same conclusions, and stated that most early sanctions did not target the Venezuelan economy.[5] After sanctions were issued, Venezuela continued to ship oil and to send money to ally countries, including Cuba and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

In October 2023, the Biden administration partially released some U.S. sanctions on the oil, gas and gold industries in exchange for the promise of the release of prisoners and free 2024 elections.

United States

Through April 2019, the U.S. has sanctioned more than 150 companies, vessels and individuals, in addition to revoking visas of 718 individuals associated with Maduro.[1]

History and legislation

Hugo Carvajal in 2016, former head of intelligence, confidant of Chávez, sanctioned by the U.S. in 2008, arrested in Spain in 2019

The U.S. has been concerned about Venezuelan narcotics trafficking since 2005 and its lack of cooperation in combatting terrorism since 2006. The U.S. has used sanctions as a policy tool for at least a decade to combat terrorism-related activity as well as narcotics and human trafficking, corruption and human rights violations, according to the Congressional Research Service. In 2008, Executive Order (EO) 13224 aimed to reduce terrorist funding in Venezuela via sanctions, and the United States Department of the Treasury has used the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act) to sanction at least 22 Venezuelans, including several current and former government officials.[6]

Prior to the crisis in Venezuela, in 2010 the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned three current or former Venezuelan government officials, saying there was evidence they had materially helped the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in the illegal drug trade.[7] The order "freezes any assets the designated entities and individuals may have under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibits U.S. persons from conducting financial or commercial transactions involving those assets".[7] Hugo Carvajal, former director of Venezuela's military intelligence (DGIM); Henry Rangel Silva, director National Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services (DISIP); and Ramón Rodríguez Chacín, former Minister of the Interior, were sanctioned.[7] Carvajal was arrested in Spain on 12 April 2019 based on a U.S. arrest warrant for the 2011 charges; the U.S. asked Spain to extradite Carvajal.[8]

In 2011, four allies of Hugo Chávez, including a general, two politicians, and an intelligence official, were sanctioned for allegedly helping FARC obtain weapons and smuggle drugs.[9][10]

U.S. President Barack Obama signed the Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Act of 2014, a U.S. Act imposing sanctions on Venezuelan individuals held responsible by the U.S. for human rights violations during the 2014 Venezuelan protests, in December of that year.[11][12][6] The Act was extended in 2016 to expire on 31 December 2019.[13] On 2 February 2015, the United States Department of State imposed visa restrictions on current and former Venezuelan officials that were allegedly linked to presumed human rights abuses and political corruption.[14] The visa restrictions also included family members.[14] Obama issued Executive Order 13692 in March 2015, which blocks assets or imposes travel bans on those "involved in or responsible for the erosion of human rights guarantees, persecution of political opponents, curtailment of press freedoms, use of violence and human rights violations and abuses in response to antigovernment protests, and arbitrary arrest and detention of antigovernment protestors, as well as significant public corruption by senior government officials in the country."[15]

United States National Security Advisor John R. Bolton outlined the policies of the administration of President Donald Trump towards Venezuela in a November 2018 speech, describing Venezuela as part of a troika of tyranny, along with Cuba and Nicaragua.[16][17][18] The U.S. condemned actions of the governments of the three Latin American nations and maintained both broad and targeted sanctions against their leadership.[18] Into 2020, Trump expressed that he believed that the removal of Maduro from office was occurring too slowly and that incremental processes, such as sanctions, did not provide results;[19] he began to consider military options, including a naval blockade.[19]

On individuals, ships and aircraft

As of 27 March 2018, the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) said 78 Venezuelans associated with Maduro had been sanctioned by different countries.[20] Under EO 13692, the Obama administration sanctioned 7 individuals, and the Trump administration had sanctioned 73 as of 8 March 2019.[6] By September 2019, the Center for Strategic and International Studies said 119 Venezuelans had been sanctioned by the U.S. and several other countries.[2]

2015

Tibisay Lucena, sanctioned by Canada, the European Union, Mexico, Panama, Switzerland and the United States and banned from entering Colombia for her role in the Venezuelan elections

Obama issued a presidential order on 9 March 2015 declaring Venezuela a "threat to its national security" and ordered the U.S. Treasury Department to freeze property and assets of seven Venezuelan officials.[21][22] The U.S. held the seven individuals sanctioned responsible for repression and at least 43 deaths during demonstrations and human rights abuses including "persecution of political opponents, restrictions on press freedom ... and arbitrary arrests".[23] Among those sanctioned were Antonio Benavides Torres, commander in the Venezuelan armed forces and former leader of the Venezuelan National Guard, and SEBIN directors Manuel Bernal Martínez and Gustavo González López.[24]

2017

Tareck El Aissami, Vice President of Economy and Minister for National Industry and Production, and his frontman Samark Lopez Bello were named in February under the Kingpin Act as significant international narcotics traffickers. Five U.S. companies in Florida and an airplane registered in the U.S. were also blocked.[25][26]

The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Maikel Moreno and seven members of the Venezuelan Supreme Justice Tribunal (TSJ) in May for usurping the functions of the Venezuelan National Assembly and permitting Maduro to govern by decree.[27][28]

Freddy Bernal in 2003, sanctioned by Canada, the European Union, Panama and the United States

In July, thirteen senior officials of the Venezuelan government associated with the 2017 Venezuelan Constituent Assembly elections were sanctioned for what the U.S. labeled as their role in undermining democracy and human rights.[29] Those sanctioned included Elías Jaua, Presidential Commission for the ANC and Minister of Education; Tibisay Lucena, President of the Maduro-controlled National Electoral Council (CNE); Néstor Reverol, Minister of Interior and former Commander General of Venezuelan National Guard (GNB), indicted in 2016 by U.S. for drug conspiracy; Tarek William Saab, Ombudsman and President of Moral Council; and Iris Varela ANC member and Prisons Minister.[30]

The U.S. State Department condemned the Venezuelan Constituent Assembly election and refused to recognize it.[31] The day after the election, the U.S. sanctioned Maduro, stating that the election "aspires illegitimately to usurp the constitutional role of the democratically elected National Assembly, rewrite the constitution, and impose an authoritarian regime".[32] Maduro became the fourth head of state to be sanctioned by the U.S. government after Bashar al-Assad of Syria, Kim Jong-un of North Korea and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.[33] Maduro fired back at the sanctions during his victory speech saying "I don't obey imperial orders. I'm against the Ku Klux Klan that governs the White House, and I'm proud to feel that way."[33]

The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned eight officials associated with the 2017 Constituent National Assembly (ANC) in August,[34] for participating in "anti-democratic actions pursuant to Executive Order 13692" by facilitating the "illegitimate Constituent Assembly to further entrench [Maduro's] dictatorship".[35] The individuals sanctioned included Francisco Ameliach and Adán Chávez, the brother of Hugo Chávez.[35]

In November, ten more government officials were added to OFAC's list of Venezuelans sanctioned after the regional elections;[36] the U.S. Treasury Department described the individuals as being "associated with undermining electoral processes, media censorship, or corruption in government-administered food programs in Venezuela".[37] Among those sanctioned was Minister Freddy Bernal, who heads the Local Committees for Supply and Production (CLAP) program, and was previously named in 2011 as a drug trafficker under the Kingpin Act for aiding the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).[36]

2018

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, sanctioned by Canada, the European Union, Mexico and the U.S., and banned from entering Colombia

The U.S. Treasury Department said on 5 January that corruption and repression continued in Venezuela and four senior military officers were sanctioned.[38][39] Four more current or former officials were added to the sanctioned list in March 2018.[40][41]

Just before the May 2018 Venezuelan presidential election, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned four Venezuelans and three companies it said were involved in corruption and money laundering.[42] Individuals sanctioned included Diosdado Cabello, Chavismo's number two person and President of the ANC,[42] his wife, Marleny Contreras Hernández de Cabello, who was also the Tourism Minister, and his brother José David Cabello Rondón, the president of Venezuela's tax authority, SENIAT.[43] The Florida companies, owned or controlled by sanctioned front man Rafael Sarria in Florida were: SAI Advisors Inc., Noor Plantation Investments LLC, and 11420 Corp. Fourteen other properties owned or controlled by Sarria in Florida and New York were also sanctioned.[43] The U.S. Treasury Department said the "Cabello brothers, acting in their capacity as high-level Venezuelan government officials, approved a money laundering scheme based on illicit financial activities targeting the Venezuelan state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA)."[43]

The U.S. Treasury Department seized a private jet and imposed sanctions on Maduro's inner circle in September.[44][45] Maduro's wife, Cilia Flores, and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, and her brother Jorge Rodríguez, Minister of Communications, were sanctioned.[46] Agencia Vehiculos Especiales Rurales y Urbanos, C.A. (AVERUCA, C.A.), Quiana Trading Limited (Quiana Trading), and Panazeate SL were sanctioned as companies owned or controlled in the U.S., British Virgin Islands, and Spain by sanctioned parties.[46][47]

2019

The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned seven individuals on 8 January 2019, who they said were benefitting from a corrupt currency exchange scheme.[48] Alejandro Jose Andrade Cedeño, a former national Treasurer, "was sentenced by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on November 27, 2018, to 10 years in prison for accepting over $1 billion in bribes for his role" in the scheme.[49][50] OFAC also sanctioned five other individuals and 23 companies,[50] including Venezuelan private TV network Globovisión and other companies owned or controlled by Raúl Gorrín and Gustavo Perdomo.[48]

On 15 February 2019, officials of Maduro's security and intelligence were sanctioned for helping suppress democracy; the head of state-run PDVSA was also sanctioned. The U.S. Treasury Department said the security officials were responsible for torture, human rights abuses, and extrajudicial killings.[51][52]

File:Tarek-William-Saab-Halabi-Entrevista (cropped).jpg
Tarek Saab, Attorney General, sanctioned by Canada, the European Union, Mexico, Panama, Switzerland, U.S., and banned from entering Colombia

During the February 2019 shipping of humanitarian aid to Venezuela, U.S. Vice-president Mike Pence announced new U.S. sanctions against four Venezuelan state governors, who the U.S. said had furthered the humanitarian crisis by participating in the blocking of aid;[53][54] the governors of the United Socialist Party representing Zulia, Apure, Vargas and Carabobo states were blacklisted.[55] On 1 March, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned six more military and security forces individuals, including members of FAES (Fuerzas de Acciones Especiales), a special police force.[56] The U.S. said these individuals helped obstruct the delivery of humanitarian aid to Venezuela on the Colombian and Brazilian borders.[57]

The U.S. sanctioned Minerven, Venezuela's state-run mining company, and its president, Adrian Antonio Perdomo in March 2019; the U.S. Treasury department said that the Venezuelan military grants access to criminal organizations in exchange for money.[58][59]

The U.S. Treasury sanctioned two companies on 5 April 2019 that had shipped Venezuelan oil to Cuba; the U.S. said Cuban personnel and advisors help the Maduro government maintain power; the companies were Liberia-based Ballito Bay Shipping Inc., the owner of the Despina Andrianna, and the Greek company ProPer In Management Inc., the operator of the vessel that was used for an oil shipment to Cuba.[60] Another 34 ships that are owned by PDVSA were also added to the sanction list.[61] The U.S. sanctioned nine ships and four more shipping companies on 12 April 2019: Liberian companies Jennifer Navigation Ltd., Large Range Ltd. and Lima Shipping Corp.; and Italian PB Tankers.[62][63] An unnamed U.S. senior official told Bloomberg that these companies and vessels account for as much as half of the 50,000 barrels daily of oil that "Venezuela sends to Cuba in exchange for the social, intelligence and strategic support Havana provides Maduro".[64] Cuba denies any influence on Venezuela's military and—along with Russia, China, Turkey and Iran—is determined to defend Maduro according to Bloomberg.[64]

On 17 April 2019, the U.S. Treasury added sanctions to the Central Bank of Venezuela and one of its directors, Iliana Ruzza.[65][66] Directors Simon Alejandro Zerpa Delgado and William Antonio Contreras were already sanctioned.[66] Bolton said the sanction was "aimed at restricting U.S. transactions with the bank and cutting off the bank's access to U.S. currency", as a warning to Russia and others.[65] United States Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin stated that the sanction was to prevent the Central Bank "from being used as a tool of the illegitimate Maduro regime"[66] Maduro said the sanctions were "totally illegal" and that "Central banks around the world are sacred, all countries respect them. ... To me the empire looks crazy, desperate."[67]

On 26 April 2019, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Maduro's foreign minister Jorge Arreaza and Judge Carol Padilla, which it accused of exploiting the U.S. financial system to support Maduro.[68][69] The U.S. State Department issued a statement describing Arreaza as being "at the forefront" of the Maduro administration attempts "to thwart the democratic aspirations of the Venezuelan people", and Padilla as the judge involved in the detention of Roberto Marrero, who was Juan Guaidó's top aide.[70][71]

Following the Venezuelan uprising on 30 April 2019, the U.S. removed sanctions against former SEBIN chief Manuel Cristopher Figuera, who broke ranks with Maduro.[72] The U.S. Treasury Department press release said the action demonstrated that sanctions could be removed from those who help "restore democratic order" in Venezuela.[73]

In response to the arrest of National Assembly members, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned on 10 May two shipping companies, and two ships, that transported oil from Venezuela to Cuba between late 2018 and March 2019. Both ships sanctioned carried Panama flags: the tanker Ocean Elegance was owned by Monsoon Navigation Corporation, and Leon Dias by Serenity Martitime Limited.[74][75]

On 27 June 2019, the U.S. sanctioned two former Venezuelan government officials Luis Alfredo Motta Domínguez and Eustiquio Jose Lugo Gomez, who, it said, were engaging in significant corruption and fraud.[76][77] The Miami U.S. attorney's office stated that Motta was indicted on seven counts of money laundering and one count of money laundering conspiracy, after awarding US$60 million in contracts to three Florida-based companies in return for bribes. In April, Maduro dismissed Motta as Electricity Minister after a series of March blackouts.[76][77]

President Maduro's son, Nicolás Maduro Guerra, was sanctioned on 28 June 2019 for being a current or former official of the Government of Venezuela, as well as being a member of Venezuela's Constituent Assembly.[78] The U.S. Treasury Department accused him of maintaining a stranglehold on the economy and suppressing the people of Venezuela.[79]

Following the death of Venezuelan navy captain Rafael Acosta Arévalo on 29 June, the U.S. sanctioned Dirección General de Contrainteligencia Militar (DGCIM) on 11 July 2019, accusing the defense agency of being responsible for his death.[80] On 19 July 2019, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence announced new sanctions on DGCIM officials who, he said, were responsible for repressing and torturing Venezuelans. Pence said the UN had reported that there were nearly 7,000 "killings by [the] Maduro regime in the last 18 months".[81][82][83][84]

2020

The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned seven individuals for their involvement in the January disputed internal parliamentary elections of the National Assembly. The election was disrupted and resulted in two claims for the Presidency of the National Assembly: one by legislator Luis Parra, later supported by Maduro, and one by the incumbent Guaidó. According to U.S. Secretary of Treasury Mnuchin, the U.S. blacklisted the Venezuelan lawmakers "who, at the bidding of Maduro, attempted to block the democratic process in Venezuela".[85] Those sanctioned included the members of Parra's appointed board of directors and his supporters: Franklyn Duarte, José Goyo Noriega, Negal Morales [es], José Brito, Conrado Pérez [es], Adolfo Superlano and Parra himself.[85]

OFAC added state airline Conviasa and its fleet of 40 aircraft (including presidential aircraft) to the Specially Designated Nationals ("SDN") list on 7 February 2020, making it unlikely that Conviasa would be able to source replacement parts for its Boeing B737 aircraft. U.S. citizens were prohibited from flying on Conviasa's domestic and international flights. To the extent that other countries abide by OFAC policy, those countries (Brazil, France and the United Kingdom) would refuse to sell Conviasa replacement parts for Embraer and Airbus aircraft, prohibit its nationals from flying Conviasa, and cancel Conviasa-serviced routes to their respective countries (Panama, Mexico, Bolivia, and Ecuador).[86]

On 18 February 2020, OFAC sanctioned the president and board chairman, Didier Casimiro, of Rosneft for supporting Maduro's government by operating in the oil sector.[76][87]

On 26 March 2020, the U.S. State Department offered a $15 million reward on Nicolás Maduro, and $10 million each on Diosdado Cabello, Hugo Carvajal, Clíver Alcalá Cordones and Tareck El Aissami, for information to bring those individuals to justice for drug trafficking and narco-terrorism.[88]

On industries

Trump issued EO 13850 on 1 November 2018 to block the assets of anyone involved in corruption in the gold sector, or "any other sector of the economy as determined in the future by the Secretary of the Treasury".[6] Mnuchin announced on 28 January 2019 that EO 13850 applied to the petroleum sector.[6]

Three additional Executive Orders have been applied in the areas of Venezuelan sanctions. EO 13808, issued on 27 July 2017, prohibits the Venezuelan government from accessing U.S. financial markets, allowing for "exceptions to minimize the impact on the Venezuelan people and U.S. economic interests. The sanctions restricted the Venezuelan government's access to US debt and equity markets." This includes the state-run oil company, PDVSA.[6] Issued in 2018, EO 13827 prohibited the use of Venezuelan digital currency, and EO 13835 prohibited the purchase of Venezuelan debt.[6]

Petroleum

U.S. National Security Advisor John R. Bolton and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announce PDVSA sanctions
Venezuelan crude oil production, January 2000 – April 2019
Venezuelan crude oil export destinations, January 2017 – April 2019

Trump imposed economic sanctions in August 2017 that affected Venezuela's petroleum industry by prohibiting the trading of Venezuelan bonds in U.S. markets. The New York Times said that loopholes in the sanctions would permit "financing of most commercial trade, including the export of American light crude oil to Venezuela for mixing with its heavy crude, and financing for humanitarian services to the Venezuelan people", and quoted analysts who said the sanctions would not be a "lethal blow".[89] The White House saw the measures as a way to "protect the United States financial system from complicity in Venezuela's corruption and in the impoverishment of the Venezuelan people" without disallowing humanitarian aid[89] while preventing the "fire sale" of Venezuelan assets.[15]

On 28 January 2019, the U.S. imposed sanctions on the Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company, PDVSA, to pressure Maduro to resign during the 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis.[90][91] The sanctions prevented PDVSA from being paid for petroleum exports to the U.Ss, froze $7 billion of PDVSA's U.S. assets and prevented U.S. firms from exporting naphtha to Venezuela. Bolton estimated the expected loss to the Venezuelan economy at more than $11 billion in 2019.[90][92]

In February 2019, Maduro ordered PDVSA to move its European office to Moscow to protect PDVSA's overseas assets from U.S. sanctions.[93][92] The Russian state-run oil company Rosneft had supplied naphtha to Venezuela and continued to purchase Venezuelan petroleum, which it said was through contracts that were in place prior to the U.S. sanctions.[92][94] Exports of Venezuela's heavy crude oil depend on diluents that were imported from the U.S. before sanctions; Rosneft chartered a ship to load thinners from Malta and deliver them to Venezuela on 22 March, and arranged for shipping of Venezuelan crude oil to be processed in India.[95] Other companies including India's Reliance Industries Limited, Spain's Repsol, and commodity trading companies Trafigura and Vitol continued to supply Venezuela's oil industry as of 11 April 2019.[96] On 17 April, Reuters reported that Repsol was in discussion with the Trump administration and had suspended its swaps with PDVSA.[97]

On 18 February 2020, OFAC sanctioned Rosneft's Swiss-incorporated company (Rosneft Trading S.A.) for supporting Maduro's government by operating in the oil sector.[76][98] Rosneft had been previously sanctioned by the Obama administration on 16 July 2014 for the ongoing Ukrainian crisis, annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by the Kremlin, and the Russian interference in Ukraine.[99][100]

The Venezuelan National Assembly had been looking at ways to access Venezuela's overseas cash and facilities.[101] PDVSA's US subsidiary Citgo announced in February 2019 that it would formally cut ties with PDVSA to comply with U.S. sanctions on Venezuela, and halted payments to PDVSA. Guaidó and the National Assembly appointed a new Citgo board of directors under Chairperson Luisa Palacios.[101] The National Assembly authorized Guaidó's appointment of a new ad hoc board of PDVSA, Citgo, Pdvsa Holding Inc, Citgo Holding Inc. and Citgo Petroleum Corporation.[102] Although control of PDVSA assets in Venezuela remained with Maduro, Guaidó named a new PDVSA board.[103] With Citgo under the control of Guaidó's administration, the U.S. Treasury Department extended its license to operate in spite of sanctions.[104]

Stating it was a "sign of the growing dependence of Venezuela's cash-strapped government on Russia", Reuters reported on 18 April 2019 that the Maduro administration was bypassing the sanctions by funneling cash from petroleum sales through Russia's Rosneft.[105] Reliance denied reports that it was in violation of U.S. sanctions and stated that its purchases of Venezuelan oil through Rosneft had the approval of the U.S. State Department.[106] April oil exports were steady at a million barrels daily, "partially due to inventory drains", with most shipments to buyers from India and China.[107] Production in April was eight percent higher than it was in March, during the 2019 Venezuelan blackouts.[107] Even with sanctions, shipments to Cuba were unchanged.[107]

Beginning in late 2019, the US asked foreign firms not to send gasoline to Venezuela as part of the sanctions on PDVSA.[108]

Petrocaribe
  Venezuela
  Petrocaribe members and CARICOM members
  Petrocaribe members not part of CARICOM
  CARICOM members not part of Petrocaribe

Through Petrocaribe, Caribbean countries including Haiti and Jamaica had been able to finance 40% of their Venezuelan crude oil purchases over 25 years at 1% interest; Cuba received free oil in exchange for medical services.[109] Reuters said, "The Caribbean region has long relied on oil and gas from Venezuela, which offered cheap financing through a program called Petrocaribe, though shipments have declined in recent years because of production problems at Venezuela's state-owned oil company PDVSA."[110] Research by the journalism group Connectas said that Venezuela had spent $28 billion worth of oil to buy support from 14 Caribbean countries; according to the Connectas study the social benefits that were intended for the countries of Petrocaribe were not realized, which they say was ignored by the Venezuelan government because Petrocaribe countries were intended to protect Venezuela's sovereignty in international organizations like the UN and OAS.[111][112]

Several leaders of Caribbean countries supporting Maduro criticized the US sanctions, saying their support for Maduro was based on principles, not oil, and that sanctions were affecting their countries' supply, debt payments, and the region's stability.[109] The director of the Latin America and Caribbean Energy Program at the University of Texas at Austin, Jorge Piñón, said the supply cuts to these Caribbean countries were not due to the sanctions, but the mismanagement of PDVSA.[109] When Chávez was elected, Venezuela was producing 3.5 million barrels per day of crude oil; as of March 2019, production is about 1 million barrels per day, and Piñón says these countries should have seen the problems coming.[109] Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, and others criticized the US intent in the region, saying that "Washington should provide more aid to these nations and not spend billions on useless wars".[113] With the Venezuelan crisis dividing Caribbean countries, those countries that did not recognize Maduro were invited to meet with Trump in March 2019.[113] Following the meeting, Trump promised more investment to the countries supporting Guaidó (Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica and Saint Lucia), although "the White House did not specifically tie the carrot of investment to that support".[110]

Gold mining

Venezuela's third-largest export (after crude oil and refined petroleum products) in 2019 was gold.[114] The country's gold production is controlled by the military and is mined under dangerous conditions.[114][58] The World Gold Council reported in January 2019 that Venezuela's foreign-held gold reserves had fallen by 69% to US$8.4 billion during Maduro's presidency, but that it was hard to track where the gold was going. Central Bank gold holdings decreased in November 2018 from US$6.1 billion to US$5.5 billion; the last independent observer to access the vault where gold is stored was Francisco Rodríguez, who saw an estimated US$15 billion in 2014.[114] Reuters reported that 20 tons were removed from the vaults in 2018, and 23 tons of mined gold were taken to Istanbul, Turkey.[115] In the first nine months of 2018, Venezuela's gold exports to Turkey rose from zero in the previous year to US$900 million.[116]

On 1 November 2018 Trump signed an executive order to "ban US persons from dealing with entities and individuals involved with 'corrupt or deceptive' gold sales from Venezuela".[116]

In mid-February 2019, National Assembly legislator Angel Alvarado said that about eight tons of gold had been taken from the vault while the head of the Central Bank was abroad.[115] In March, Ugandan investigators were looking into recent gold imports, and reported that 7.4 tonnes of gold worth over US$300 million could have been smuggled into that country.[117]

The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Minerven, Venezuela's state-run mining company, in March 2019.[58]

Government sources said another eight tonnes of gold was taken out of the Central Bank in the first week of April 2019; the government source said that there were 100 tonnes left. The gold was removed while the bank was not fully operational because of the 2019 Venezuelan blackouts and minimal staff was present; the destination of the gold was not known.[118] According to Bloomberg, the Central Bank sold 9.5 tonnes of gold on 10 May and 3 more tonnes some days later.[119] Reuters estimated in March 2020 that there were about 90 tonnes of gold left in the country, compared to 129 tonnes at the start of 2019.[120]

Banking and finance

US President Trump signed an order on 19 March 2018 that prohibited people in the US from making any type of transaction with digital currency emitted by or in the name of the government of Venezuela as of 9 January 2018, referencing the Petro token.[121] He said the crypto-currency had been designed in February 2018 to "circumvent US sanctions"[122] and access international financing.[123]

On 11 March 2019, the U.S. sanctioned the Russian bank Evrofinance Mosnarbank, a joint venture of Russian and Venezuelan state-owned companies. The U.S. Treasury Department said the Moscow-based bank was an economic lifeline for Maduro's administration.[124][125][126]

After the detention of Guaidó's chief of staff, Roberto Marrero, in March 2019, the US Treasury Department responded by placing sanctions on the Venezuelan bank BANDES and its subsidiaries.[127][128] Univision stated this action "put 'the entire banking sector' on notice" that Venezuelan financial transactions could be sanctioned.[129] China Development Bank had paid billions of dollars through BANDES to the Venezuelan government in exchange for crude oil as of March 2019; the sanctions would make it difficult for Venezuela to restructure its US$20 billion debt with China.[130] U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said that BANDES had become a way for Maduro administration "insiders" to "move funds abroad in an attempt to prop up Maduro", circumventing the purpose of the bank to help the Venezuelan people.[131]

The U.S. Treasury added sanctions to the Central Bank of Venezuela on 17 April 2019.[65][66] Mnuchin stated that the sanction would "inhibit most Central Bank activities undertaken" by the Maduro administration, but "ensure that regular debit and credit card transactions can proceed and personal remittances and humanitarian assistance continue unabated".[66] The new sanctions closed some loopholes that allowed for continued financing of the government; the Central Bank had been able to obtain loans without seeking approval from the National Assembly, and sold gold to the central banks of other countries. By interrupting the foreign exchange handled by the Central Bank, PDVSA purchases of production supplies were impacted.[132]

The Venezuelan banking sanctions caused a rippled effect in that the New York Federal Reserve decided to restrict opening of new accounts in Puerto Rico's offshore banking industry, and planned tighter restrictions in that area.[133]

CLAP food subsidy program

A food box provided by CLAP, with the supplier receiving government funds owned by President Maduro

On 25 July 2019, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on 10 people and 13 companies (from Colombia, Hong Kong (China), Mexico, Panama, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the U.S.) involved in a Venezuelan food subsidy program called CLAP, which included Maduro's stepsons and a Colombian businessman Alex Saab. Saab sold food to Venezuela for more than USD 200 million in a negotiation signed by Maduro through a registered company in Hong Kong.[134] On 23 August 2017, the Venezuelan attorney general, Luisa Ortega Díaz, had named Saab as the owner of the Mexican firm Group Grand Limited, along with Colombian businessmen Álvaro Pulido and Rodolfo Reyes, and "presumably President Nicolás Maduro" that sold food to the CLAP.[135]

According to Mnuchin, corruption in the "CLAP program has allowed Maduro and his family members to steal from the Venezuelan people" by using "food as a form of social control, to reward political supporters and punish opponents, all the while pocketing hundreds of millions of dollars through a number of fraudulent schemes."[136] The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida charged Saab and another Colombian businessman with money laundering related to a 2011–2015 scheme to pay bribes to take advantage of Venezuela's government-set exchange rate.[137]

After a multilateral meeting between over a dozen European and Latin American countries, U.S. Treasury Department officials had stated in April 2018 that they had collaborated with Colombian officials to investigate corrupt import programs of the Maduro administration including CLAP. They stated that Venezuelan officials pocketed 70% of the proceeds allocated for importation programs destined to alleviate hunger in Venezuela. Treasury officials said they sought to seize the proceeds that were being funneled into the accounts of corrupt Venezuelan officials and hold them for a future government in Venezuela.[138][139]

An April 2019 communication from the U.S. State Department highlighted the 2017 National Assembly investigation finding that the government paid US$42 for food boxes that cost under US$13, and that "Maduro's inner circle kept the difference, which totaled more than $200 million dollars in at least one case", adding that food boxes were "distributed in exchange for votes".[140] On 17 September 2019, the U.S. Treasury Department expanded further sanctions on 16 entities (from Colombia, Italy and Panama) and 3 individuals, accusing them of helping the Venezuelan government to profit from food import and distribution.[141][142]

2023 partial release

In October, the Biden administration eased some sanctions based on a 2023 Venezuela election agreement signed in Barbados between the Maduro government and opposition parties;[143] an agreement was negotiated in which five people classified as political prisoners (including Juan Requesens) were released in exchange for the U.S. partially removing sanctions on the oil, gas and gold industries.[144][145] U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated Maduro would have another month to release Americans and remove bans on candidates for the 2024 presidential elections; the proposal did not address the ban on Maria Corina Machado, but anonymous sources said the U.S. would reverse the release of sanctions "unless Maduro lifts the bans and frees wrongfully detained Americans".[144]

Canada

Jorge Arreaza, Maduro's Foreign Minister, is sanctioned by Canada and the United States

Canada sanctioned 40 Venezuelan officials, including Maduro, in September 2017.[146][147] The sanctions were for behaviors that undermined democracy after at least 125 people were killed in the 2017 protests and "in response to the government of Venezuela's deepening descent into dictatorship".[146] Canadians were banned from transactions with the 40 individuals, whose Canadian assets were frozen.[146] The Canadian government held that Maduro played a "key role in the political and economic crisis"; its sanctions targeted his cabinet, military officials, and the Supreme Tribunal of Justice and Electoral Council.[147] Chrystia Freeland, Foreign Minister, said the sanctions were intended to pressure Maduro to "restore constitutional order and respect the democratic rights of the Venezuelan people".[147]

The Canadian regulations of the Special Economic Measures Act prohibited dealings with listed persons subject to some exceptions.[148]

November 2017

On 23 November 2017, Canada added sanctions under the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, stating the individuals were "responsible for, or complicit in, gross violations of internationally recognized human rights" and had "committed acts of significant corruption, or both."[149] Three of the 19 individuals added to the Canadian list had already been sanctioned in September (Maduro, Tareck El Aissami and Gustavo González López[147]), bringing to 56 the number of individuals sanctioned by Canada as of 2017.[150]

May 2018

Responding to the 2018 presidential elections, Canada sanctioned 14 more Venezuelans.[151] Canada's Special Economic Measures (Venezuela) Regulations were amended on 30 May 2018 to account for the "economic, political and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela" that the Canadian statement said "moves [Venezuela] ever closer to full dictatorship".[152] The government sanctioned Maduro's wife, Cilia Flores, and 13 other members of the ANC and TSJ.[153]

April 2019

In April 2019, Canada announced sanctions on 43 more individuals.[154] The government statement said that high-ranking officials were sanctioned for "anti-democratic actions, particularly relating to the repression and persecution of the members of the interim government, censorship, and excessive use of force against civil society, undermining the independence of the judiciary and other democratic institutions."[155] Foreign Minister Freeland stated that the "Maduro dictatorship" was responsible for the crisis.[156]

The newly sanctioned Venezuelans included Jorge Arreaza, Maduro's Minister of Foreign Affairs.[154]

European Union

Diosdado Cabello, Constituent Assembly president, sanctioned by Canada, the European Union, Mexico, Panama, Switzerland, U.S. and banned from entering Colombia

In 2017, the E.U. approved an embargo on arms and material, adding Venezuela along with North Korea and Syria, to countries where European companies cannot sell material that may be used for repression.[157] In 2018, those sanctions were continued for another year because of "human rights violations and undermining of democracy and the rule of law under President Nicolás Maduro".[158]

The E.U. sanctioned seven Venezuela officials on 18 January 2018, stating they were responsible for deteriorating democracy in the country: Diosdado Cabello, Néstor Reverol (Interior Minister), Gustavo González López (Head of Intelligence), Antonio Benavides Torres (National Guard Commander), Tibisay Lucena (Head of Electoral Council), Maikel Moreno (Supreme Court President), and Tarek William Saab (Attorney General).[159] The sanctioned individuals were prohibited from entering the nations of the EU, and their assets were frozen.[160] Cabello, known as number two in Chavismo, had not been sanctioned by the U.S. when the E.U. sanctioned him.[160]

The Venezuelan government appealed the sanctions in the European General Court (EGC) in February 2018; the EGC dismissed the appeal on 20 September 2019.[161]

On 25 June 2018, the E.U. sanctioned another eleven officials[162] in response to the May 2018 Venezuelan presidential election, which it described as "neither free nor fair".[163] The additional sanctions brought the total to 18 Venezuelans sanctioned in European nations.[158] The sanctioned individuals included Tareck El Aissami (Vice President of Economy and Minister for Industry and Production, formerly SEBIN); Freddy Bernal (Head of Local Committees for Supply and Production and SEBIN commissioner); Elías Jaua (Minister of Education and former head of Presidential Commission for the ANC); and Delcy Rodríguez (Vice President).[162]

Voice of America reported in April 2019 tension between the U.S. and the E.U. over increasing sanctions; E.U. nations were reluctant to apply sanctions to a nation, despite evidence that Russia's aid was propping up Maduro, but were still considering tougher sanctions on individuals in his government. Spain was still receiving Venezuelan oil in repayment for debt as of 10 April 2019 and many Spanish companies still operated in Venezuela.[164]

In June 2019, the Associated Press reported that the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands were considering imposing sanctions on Maduro and several top officials for the crackdown on political opponents following the 30 April uprising. However, E.U. member states were divided over the timing of any action for fear of derailing a negotiated exit to the country's crisis.[165]

Other

Cilia Flores, Maduro's wife, sanctioned by the U.S. and Canada and banned from entering Colombia; Panama sanctioned multiple Venezuelans and companies associated with family members of Flores.

Panama

On 27 March 2018, Panama sanctioned 55 public officials[166] and 16 businesses that operate in Panama,[167] related to the family of Maduro's wife, Cilia Flores. Panama thus become the first country in Latin America to sanction the Maduro administration, joining the U.S., Canada, the E.U. and Switzerland.[20] The sanctioned businesses had members of the Malpica-Flores family on their boards of directors.[20]

The sanctions imposed by Panama triggered a diplomatic crisis between the two countries, which ended on 26 April 2018, when Maduro and Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela agreed to restore diplomatic relations.[168]

Switzerland

Switzerland implemented sanctions against Venezuela on 28 March 2018, freezing the assets of seven ministers and high officials due to human rights violations and deteriorating rule of law and democracy.[169] The sanctions mimicked those of the E.U., expressing concern over individual freedoms, illegitimate elections, and separation of powers.[169]

On 10 July 2018, Switzerland imposed sanctions against the eleven Venezuelans that were sanctioned by the E.U. in June 2018.[170][171]

Mexico

The Mexican Senate froze the assets of officials of the Maduro administration in April 2018 and prohibited them (Antonio Benavides Torres, Delcy Rodríguez, Diosdado Cabello, Maikel Moreno, Néstor Reverol, Tarek William Saab, and Tibisay Lucena) from entering Mexico.[172]

In July 2019, the Mexican Ministry of Finance froze bank accounts of 19 companies related to the sale of low quality and over-priced food to the Venezuelan government's CLAP program and opened an investigation relating to money laundering after detecting "irregularities of more than 150 million dollars".[173][174]

Curaçao

On 21 June 2019, Curaçao announced a gold import and transit ban on Venezuela. According to prime minister Eugene Rhuggenaath, criminal investigations indicated drug smuggling and money laundering were associated with the Venezuelan gold trade.[175][176]

United Kingdom

After its exit from the E.U., the United Kingdom continued to issue sanctions aligned with the E.U. In July 2021 the U.K. issued a series of sanctions that included Colombian businessman Alex Saab, and the freezing of assets and travel bans. Álvaro Enrique Pulido, his associate, was also sanctioned—–both for "exploiting two of Venezuela's public programs that were established to provide poor Venezuelans with affordable food and housing", stating that the men had inflated prices for personal enrichment, causing "more suffering to Venezuelans who were already in poverty".[177][178]

Entry bans

Lima Group

After Maduro's second inauguration on 7 January 2019, the Lima Group (except Mexico) announced its member countries would follow Peru's decision to ban the entry of people linked with Maduro's administration.[179][a]

Colombia

Colombia did not directly sanction Venezuelans, rather banned figures close to Maduro from entering the country. Christian Krüger Sarmiento, director of Colombia Migration, announced in January 2019 that the Colombian government maintained a list of people banned from entering Colombia or subject to expulsion. The initial list had 200 people with a "close relationship and support for the Nicolás Maduro regime", but Krüger said it could change.[181] The list—which was not disclosed in its entirely—was headed by Maduro, his wife Flores, Cabello, and Delcy Rodríguez and encompassed Venezuela's military leadership.[181][182] The decision to ban collaborators of the Maduro administration from entering Colombia came after the Lima Group disavowed Maduro as the legitimate president of Venezuela.[181][182]

The head of a company commissioned by the Maduro administration, Monómeros Colombovenezolanos, was not allowed to enter Colombia, nor was Omar Enrique [es], a Venezuelan singer seeking entry for a performance.[183] Maduro's cousin, Argimiro Maduro Morán, and family were turned back when they sought refuge in Colombia during the 2019 Venezuelan blackouts.[183] In March, Édgar Alejandro Lugo Pereira—an active military person who works for Venezuela's Foreign Ministry—was detained and expelled; he was carrying US$14,000 and 20 passports.[183]

Evasion

Some ships' captains and owners sympathetic to Venezuela turned off their transponder locations to avoid the U.S. sanctions and deliver oil to Russia, China, and India, creating an environmental risk of ship collisions.[184] As of 2020, Mexico defied the U.S. sanctions by allowing fuel shipments,[185] and in spite of sanctions on both Iran and Venezuela, Iran sent five oil tankers to Venezuela.[186]

Venezuela continued to send money[187] and ship petroleum products to ally countries after sanctions were issued.[188][189][190][191] In April 2022, it sent fuel oil and diesel to Cuba,[192] and paid Saint Vincent and the Grenadines' debt with Petrocaribe, estimated to have been around $189 million dollars.[187]

In January 2020, despite the entry ban imposed by the E.U., Maduro Vice President Delcy Rodríguez met in the guest area of the Madrid–Barajas Airport with Spain's minister José Luis Ábalos from the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party.[193]

Minister of Industries and National Production Tareck El Aissami announced in October 2018 in response to U.S. sanctions that all foreign exchange government auctions would be quoted in euros, Chinese yuan and other hard currencies instead of U.S. dollars. He said the government would open bank accounts in Europe and Asia as potential workarounds to financial sanctions and that Venezuela's banking sector would be able to participate in currency auctions three times a week, adding that the government would sell some 2 billion euros amid a rebound in oil prices.[194]

Reactions

Maduro has stated that the U.S. is responsible for its economic collapse; economists state that shortages and high inflation in Venezuela began before U.S. sanctions were directed towards the country.[195] The Wall Street Journal said in 2019 that economists place the blame for Venezuela's economy shrinking by half on "Maduro's policies, including widespread nationalizations, out-of-control spending that sparked inflation, price controls that led to shortages, and widespread graft and mismanagement."[196] Reuters stated that the collapse of global oil prices in 2020 during the COVID-19 recession, alongside the sanctions, contributed to fuel shortages in the country.[197] The Washington Post stated in 2019 that "the deprivation long predates recently imposed US sanctions".[198]

In 2018, during the 167th session of the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights, nutrition expert Susana Raffalli, advisor to PROVEA and Caritas Organization of Venezuela, stated that nutrition was an indicator that the crisis preceded the sanctions, explaining that 36% of children in the country suffered from stunted growth, which was a symptom of problems that pre-dated the sanctions. She cited the PDVAL affair as an example of food shortages before sanctions, when tons of food supplies were imported and later decomposed in 2010.[199]

In January 2019, David Smolansky,[b] Organization of American States Commissioner for Venezuelan Migrants and Refugees, told Public Radio International that the sanctions prior to 2019 targeted Maduro and Chavismo "elites" while having little impact on average Venezuelans.[200] The Organization of American States (OAS) commissioner for Venezuelan migrants and refugees, David Smolansky in Public Radio International said that US sanctions "target President Nicolás Maduro and his circle of elite government officials in an attempt to control their access to financial assistance from US citizens and companies". The authors add that while "Chavismo elites were hit with a variety of sanctions over the last three years, they've done little to make an impact on ordinary Venezuelans." As the humanitarian crisis deepened and expanded, the Trump administration levied more serious economic sanctions against Venezuela on 28 January.[200] Rafael Uzcátegui, director of PROVEA, added that "sanctions against PDVSA are likely to yield stronger and more direct economic consequences, and that "[w]e should remember that 70 to 80 percent of Venezuela's food is imported, and there's barely any medicine production in the country."[200]

In a February 2019 United Nations press conference, Arreaza said that economic sanctions have "blocked" the Venezuelan economy, costing it US$30 billion.[201] Reporting on Arreaza's statements, the Associated Press said that Maduro was blocking aid, and "saying that Venezuelans are not beggars and that the move is part of a U.S.-led coup".[202]

In March 2019, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) documented that "information gathered indicates that the socioeconomic crisis had been unfolding for several years prior to the imposition of these sanctions".[4] Michelle Bachelet, High Commissioner for OHCHR, updated the situation in a March 2019 oral report following the visit of a five-person delegation to Venezuela,[3] saying that the government had not acknowledged or addressed the dramatically deteriorating conditions, and she was concerned that although the "pervasive and devastating economic and social crisis began before the imposition of the first economic sanctions", the sanctions could worsen the situation.[3][203]

An April 2019 report from two "prominent, left-leaning US economists",[204] Mark Weisbrot[c] and Jeffrey Sachs, claimed that a 31% rise in the number of deaths between 2017 and 2018 was due to the 2017 sanctions, and that 40,000 people in Venezuela may have died as a result.[208] Weisbrot stated that he "could not prove those excess deaths were the result of sanctions, but said the increase ran parallel to the imposition of the measures and an attendant fall in oil production".[208] The report's findings and methodology were described as invalid in a Brookings Institution article by Venezuelan economist Dany Bahar and others who stated that most of the decline pre-dated the sanctions.[209] In May 2019, Harvard economist Ricardo Hausmann[d] and Harvard Kennedy School of Government research fellow Frank Muci published a rebuttal to the report in Americas Quarterly, noting that to make their point, Weisbrot and Sachs take Colombia as a counterfactual for Venezuela, and arguing that Colombia is not a good counterfactual. In their rebuttal, they explain that the oil production trends between both countries were very different in the decade before sanctions and that two countries are also radically different in other dimensions. The rebuttal also states that just a month after the financial sanctions in late 2017, Nicolás Maduro fired both the relatively technocratic PDVSA president and oil minister and replaced them with a single military general with no experience in oil, who in turn fired and imprisoned over 60 senior managers of the oil company, including its previous president, on corruption charges, while nothing remotely similar happened in Colombia, thus confounding the effects of the sanctions with those of the firing.[210] Hausmann asserts that the analysis is flawed because it makes invalid assumptions about Venezuela based on a different country. Calling it "sloppy reasoning", the authors also state that the analysis failed to rule out other explanations, and failed to correctly account for PDVSA finances.[211] Fact checking website Verifikado determined that the assertion is false; it points out that even the report admits "we will never know what the counterfactual data would have been" (i.e. what would have happened without the sanctions), and shows that the report minimizes the responsibility of Maduro's government in the deaths).[212][213] A U.S. State Department spokesperson commented that, "as the writers themselves concede, the report is based on speculation and conjecture".[208]

In April 2019, a report jointly published by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health noted that most sanctions are "limited to canceling visas and freezing assets of key officials implicated in abuses and corruption. They in no way target the Venezuelan economy."[214][5] The report also stated that the 2017 ban on dealing in Venezuelan government stocks and bonds allows exceptions for food and medicine, and that the 28 January 2019 PDVSA sanctions could worsen the situation, although "the crisis precedes them".[5]

In a May 2019 interview, Guaidó said that the sanctions had weakened a network of Cuban spies that was allegedly operating in Venezuela.[215]

After the U.S. imposed sanctions on Luis Parra and seven other National Assembly deputies in relation to the 2020 Venezuelan National Assembly Delegated Committee election, Arreaza published a statement saying that the sanctions imposed by the U.S. Treasury seek to "interfere and undermine the proper functioning of democratic institutions."[216][217]

An October 2020 WOLA report by Venezuelan economist Luis Oliveros found that "while Venezuela's economic crisis began before the first U.S. sectoral sanctions were imposed in 2017, these measures 'directly contributed to its deep decline, and to the further deterioration of the quality of life of Venezuelans' ". The report concluded that economic sanctions "have cost Venezuela's government as much as $31 billion since 2017".[218][219]

In late 2020, Transparencia Venezuela published a report analyzing the impact of international sanctions on Venezuela, describing the economic and political context before their application. The report concludes that economic sanctions had affected public finance in Venezuela, limiting income sources and public spending, as well as restricting Petróleos de Venezuela, all of which in turn had caused harm to the country's economic activity. However, the report stated that this did not mean that sanctions were responsible for the "institutional, political, economic, social and environmental crisis that has characterized Venezuela for more than a decade"; it points out that the evolution of indicators in these fields before the sanctions revealed the development of a crisis caused by the "kleptocratic, inefficient and authoritarian" Venezuelan administration.[220]

Consultancy firm ANOVA Policy Research published a 20 January 2021 report on the impact of international sanctions against Venezuela between 2017 and 2019. The report concluded that the sanctions were linked to a decrease in monthly oil production, an increase in monthly food importation and an increase in monthly medicine importation, detailing that despite a partial responsibility of the decline of oil production, there was no evidence of negative effects on the importation of food and medicines. The report stated there was no causal relationship between economic sanctions and an actual increase in the importation of food and medicines. Moreover, the economic data was likely skewed due to the liberalization of the Venezuelan economy in late 2017, when price controls were abandoned for imported products.[221]

Alena Douhan, United Nations special rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures, visited Venezuela from 30 January to 12 February 2021 to investigate the impact of international sanctions.[222] Before her visit, 66 Venezuelan NGOs (including PROVEA) asked Douhan in an open letter to consider the harmful impact of sanctions in the context of years of repression, corruption and economic mismanagement that predate the sanctions, and requested she meet independent press and civil society researchers.[223][224][225][226] In her preliminary report, Douhan said that the economic pressure against Venezuela worsened the crisis in the country, but that Venezuela's economic decline "began in 2014 with the fall in oil prices" and that "mismanagement and corruption had also contributed." Douhan also asked the US, UK and Portugal to release an estimated $6 billion in frozen Venezuelan foreign assets.[227][228][229] The government welcomed the report, while the opposition accused her of "playing into the hands of the regime" of Nicolás Maduro.[230][231][232][233] Douhan was criticized by those affected,[234] and several non-governmental organizations pronounced themselves in social media with the hashtag "#Lacrisisfueprimero" (The crisis came first).[235][236][237]

In 2023, Al Jazeera wrote that the sanctions had affected citizens;[238] economist Francisco Rodríguez stated the economic complications existed prior to sanctions, which worsened the economic crisis.[238]

Public perception

A poll by DatinCorp conducted among Venezuelans in 2019 found that 68% believed that the sanctions have affected their quality of life.[2][239]

Persons sanctioned

Legend

  Government officials (G)
  Active or retired military or security officials (S)
  Other (O)

☒N Person no longer sanctioned

Date first
sanctioned
Name Summary Sanctioned by Travel ban
US
Canada EU
Swiss Panama Mexico Colombia [e]
G 2017-07-31 Nicolás Maduro President of Venezuela [32] [147][150] [166] [182]
S 2015-03-09 Antonio José Benavides Commander in the armed forces and former leader of the National Guard [24] [147] [160] [169] [166] [172]
G 2011-09-08 Freddy Bernal Minister of Urban Agriculture, heads Local Committees for Supply and Production (CLAP), also sanctioned 9 November 2017, previously sanctioned under Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act[10] [10][36] [147] [162] [170] [166]
G 2017-09-22 Diosdado Cabello President of the ANC, Vice President of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Chavismo's number two person[42] [43] [147] [160] [169] [166] [172] [182]
S 2015-03-09 Gustavo González López Director General of Bolivarian Intelligence Service (SEBIN) [24] [147][150] [160] [169] [166]
G 2015-03-09 Katherine Haringhton National-level prosecutor [24] [154] [162] [170] [166]
G 2017-09-22 Socorro Elizabeth Hernández National Electoral Council (CNE) Rector and member of National Electoral Board [36] [147] [162] [170] [166]
G 2017-07-26 Elías Jaua Presidential Commission for the ANC, Minister of Education, Minister of Foreign Affairs (former), Vice president (former) [30] [147] [162] [170] [166] [182]
G 2017-07-26 Tibisay Lucena
d. 2023-04-12
President of National Electoral Council (CNE) [30] [147] [160] [169] [166] [172] [182]
G 2017-05-18 Maikel Moreno Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) [28] [147] [160] [169] [166] [172] [182]
G 2017-09-22 Sandra Oblitas Ruzza Vice President and Rector of CNE [36] [147] [162] [170] [166]
G 2017-07-26 Néstor Reverol Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace
former Commander General of Venezuelan National Guard (GNB)
US indictment for drug conspiracy (2016)[30]
[30] [147] [160] [169] [166] [172] [182]
S 2017-07-26 Sergio José Rivero Commander General of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) [30] [147] [162] [170] [166] [182]
G 2017-09-22 Delcy Rodríguez Vice president, sister of Jorge Rodríguez [46] [147] [162] [170] [172] [182]
G 2017-07-26 Tarek William Saab Ombudsman and President of Moral Council [30] [147] [160] [169] [166] [172] [182]
G 2008-09-12 Hugo Carvajal Former director of military intelligence (DGIM), arrested in Spain on 12 April 2019 based on US warrant[8] [7]
G 2008-09-12 Henry Rangel Silva Director National Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services (DISIP) [7]
G 2008-09-12 Ramón Rodríguez Chacín Minister of the Interior (former) [7]
S 2011-09-08 Cliver Antonio Alcalá Cordones Major General Fourth Armored Division Venezuelan Army [10]
O 2011-09-08 Amilcar Jesus Figueroa Salazar Member Latin American Parliament (Parlamento Latinamericano) [10]
S 2011-09-08 Ramón Isidro Madriz Moreno Officer intelligence service (SEBIN) [10]
S 2015-03-09 Manuel Gregoria Bernal Martínez Director General of SEBIN (former) [24] [154] [166]
S 2015-03-09 Justo José Noguera Pietri General Commander of National Guard (former); Governor Bolivar State [24] [154] [166]
S 2015-03-09 Manuel Eduardo Pérez Urdaneta Director of the Bolivarian National Police (PNB) [24] [166]
S 2015-03-09 Miguel Alcides Vivas Landino Inspector General of the Venezuelan armed forces [24]
G 2017-02-13 Tareck El Aissami Minister of Industries and National Production, former Vice President [26] [147][150] [162] [170]
O 2017-02-13 Samark José Lopez Bello Business associate of Tareck El Aissami [26]
G 2017-05-18 Arcadio de Jesús Delgado Rosales TSJ [28] [147] [166]
G 2017-05-18 Luis Fernando Damiani Bustillos TSJ [28] [147] [166]
G 2017-05-18 Gladys Gutiérrez TSJ [28] [147] [166]
G 2017-05-18 Juan José Mendoza Jover TSJ [28] [147] [166]
G 2017-05-18 Calixto Antonio Ortega Rios Magistrate (de facto) of the TSJ [28] [147] [166]
G 2017-05-18 Lourdes Benicia Suarez Anderson TSJ [28] [147] [166]
G 2017-05-18 Carmen Auxiliadora Zuleta de Merchan TSJ [28] [147] [166]
G 2017-07-26 Rocco Albisinni Serrano President of National Center for Foreign Commerce (CENCOEX) [30] [150] [166] [182]
G 2017-07-26 Alejandro Antonio Fleming Cabrera Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, former President of CENCOEX [30] [150] [166] [182]
S 2017-07-26 Franklin Horacio García Duque Former Director of the Venezuelan National Police (PNB) [30] [154] [166] [182]
G 2017-07-26 Carlos Erik Malpica Flores Former National Treasurer and former Vice President of Finance for PDVSA, nephew of Cilia Flores[20] [30] [154] [166] [182]
S 2017-07-26 Carlos Alfredo Pérez Ampueda National Director of PNB [30] [147] [166] [182]
S 2017-07-26 Jesús Suárez Chourio General Commander of the Army, formerly head of President's Protection and Security Unit [30] [147] [162] [170] [166] [182]
G 2017-07-26 Iris Varela ANC and Prisons Minister [30] [147] [166] [182]
G 2017-07-26 Simón Alejandro Zerpa Delgado Finance VP for PDVSA, President of BANDES, Central Bank Director [30] [154] [166] [182]
G 2017-08-09 Francisco Ameliach ANC [35] [147] [166]
G 2017-08-09 Adán Chávez ANC, brother of Hugo Chávez [35] [150] [166]
G 2017-08-09 Tania D'Amelio Cardiet Rector of CNE who defended the ANC [35] [147] [166]
G 2017-08-09 Hermann Escarrá ANC [35] [147] [166]
G 2017-08-09 Erika Farías ANC, Libertador Bolivarian Municipality mayor of Caracas [35] [152] [166]
S 2017-08-09 Bladimir Lugo Commander of the Special Unit to the Federal Legislative Palace of Bolivarian National Guard involved in assault on National Assembly [35] [147] [166]
G 2017-08-09 Carmen Meléndez ANC, Lara state governor, Navy admiral, former Minister of Interior and Justice and Chief of Staff for Maduro's cabinet [35] [147] [166] [182]
G 2017-08-09 Darío Vivas
d. 2020-08-13
ANC [35] [152] [166]
G 2017-09-22 Susana Barreiros Judge involved in Leopoldo López case [147]
G 2017-09-22 Pedro Carreño ANC, former Interior Minister [147]
S 2017-09-22 Remigio Ceballos Ichaso Armed Forces [147]
G 2017-09-22 Roy Chaderton Former Foreign Minister and ambassador [147]
G 2017-09-22 Manuel Enrique Galindo Ballesteros ex-Comptroller [147]
G 2017-09-22 Aristóbulo Istúriz
d. 2021-04-27
ANC, Education Minister, former Vice President [147]
G 2017-09-22 Andrés Eloy Méndez González Former director of CONATEL [147]
S 2017-09-22 Vladimir Padrino López Minister of Defense [46] [147] [182]
G 2017-09-22 Jorge Rodríguez Minister of Communications and Information, Vice President of Communication and Culture, brother of Delcy Rodríguez [46] [147] [182]
G 2017-11-09 Manuel Ángel Fernández Meléndez President of National Telephone Company (CANTV) and subsidiary Movilnet [36] [154] [166]
G 2017-11-09 Elvis Amoroso Second Vice President of the ANC; President of the Republican Moral Council; Comptroller General of the Republic [36] [147] [166]
G 2017-11-09 Jorge Elieser Márquez Monsalve Minister of the Office of the Presidency, former Director General of the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) [36] [154] [166]
G 2017-11-09 Carlos Alberto Osorio Zambrano President of Superior Organ of the Transport Mission, former Minister of the Office of the Presidency [36] [150] [166]
G 2017-11-09 Carlos Enrique Quintero Cuevas Alternate Rector of the CNE, member of National Electoral Board [36] [152] [166]
G 2017-11-09 Isaías Rodríguez Venezuelan Ambassador to Italy, former Second Vice President of the ANC [36] [166]
G 2017-11-09 Ernesto Villegas Minister of Culture, former Minister of Communication and Information, former President of Venezolana de Television (VTV) [36] [166]
G 2017-11-23 José David Cabello President of SENIAT, national tax authority, Diosdado Cabello's brother [43] [150]
G 2017-11-23 Argenis Chávez Barinas State Governor, brother of Hugo Chávez [150]
G 2017-11-23 Eulogio Antonio Del Pino Díaz Former Oil Minister [150]
S 2017-11-23 Rodolfo Marco Torres Governor of Aragua State, director on the board of% directors of PDVSA, former Minister of Food, retired General National Bolivarian Armed Forces [39] [150] [166]
G 2017-11-23 Nelson Merentes Former president of Central Bank [150]
G 2017-11-23 Ricardo Antonio Molina Peñaloza Housing Minister [150] [182]
S 2017-11-23 Luis Motta Domínguez Major General National Guard, Former Minister of Electrical Energy, Former President of the National Electric Corporation (CORPOELEC) [76] [150]
G 2017-11-23 Rafael Ramírez Former Minister of Energy, Permanent Representative of Venezuela to the UN, Minister of Foreign Affairs, president of PDVSA [150] [182]
G 2017-11-23 José Vicente Rangel Ávalos Mayor of Sucre [150]
S 2017-11-23 Francisco Rangel Gómez Former Governor of Bolivar State, retired Army Division General [39] [150] [166]
G 2017-11-23 Luis Ramón Reyes Reyes Former governor of Lara State [150]
G 2017-11-23 José Vielma Mora Former governor of Tachira State [136] [150]
S 2018-01-05 Gerardo José Izquierdo Torres Major General of the Army [39] [166]
S 2018-01-05 Fabio Enrique Zavarse Pabón Division General of National Guard [39] [166]
G 2018-03-19 William Antonio Contreras Head of the Superintendency for the Defense of Socioeconomic Rights (SUNDDE), responsible for imposing price controls, Central Bank Director [7] [166]
G 2018-03-19 Nelson Reinaldo Lepaje Salazar Head of the Office of the National Treasury [7] [154] [166]
G 2018-03-19 Américo Alex Mata García Alternate Director for National Bank of Housing and Habitat, former Vice Minister of Agricultural Economics [7] [166]
G 2018-03-19 Carlos Alberto Rotondaro Cova Former President of Venezuelan Institute of Social Security (IVSS) [7] [152] [166]
G 2018-05-18 Marleny Contreras Tourism Minister, Diosdado Cabello's wife [43]
O 2018-05-18 Rafael Alfredo Sarría Diaz Business associate of Diosdado Cabello[240] [43]
G 2018-05-30 Indira Alfonzo TSJ judge [152]
G 2018-05-30 Tania Díaz ANC [152]
G 2018-05-30 Cilia Flores ANC, Maduro's wife [46] [152] [182]
G 2018-05-30 Malaquías Gil Rodríguez TSJ, Vice-president [152]
G 2018-05-30 Jhannett María Madriz Sotillo TSJ judge [152]
G 2018-05-30 Fanny Beatriz Márquez Cordero TSJ judge [152]
G 2018-05-30 Xavier Antonio Moreno Reyes Secretary-General of the National Electoral Council of Venezuela (CNE) [152] [162] [170]
G 2018-05-30 Carolys Helena Pérez González ANC sub-secretary [152]
G 2018-05-30 Fidel Ernesto General Vásquez Iriarte Director of Executive Vice-presidency of the Republic [152]
G 2018-05-30 Christian Tyrone Zerpa Former TSJ judge, defected to US[241] [152]
S 2018-06-25 Iván Hernández Dala Commander of Presidential Guard and Military Counterintelligence, DGCIM [52] [154] [162] [170]
O 2018-09-25 José Omar Paredes Chief pilot of sanctioned AVERUCA [46]
O 2018-09-25 Edgar Alberto Sarría Diaz Director and CEO of sanctioned companies [46]
G 2019-01-08 Claudia Patricia Diaz Guillen Former national Treasurer, married to Velásquez Figueroa [50]
O 2019-01-08 Leonardo González Dellan Frontman and ex-president of Banco Industrial de Venezuela [50]
O 2019-01-08 Raúl Gorrín President of Globovisión
US indictment for violating Foreign Corrupt Practices Act[50]
[50]
O 2019-01-08 Gustavo Adolfo Perdomo Rosales Gorrin's brother-in-law [50]
O 2019-01-08 María Alexandra Perdomo Rosales Gorrin's wife, sanctions removed in March[242] ☒N [50][242]
O 2019-01-08 Mayela Antonina Tarascio-Perez de Perdomo Gustavo Perdomo's wife, sanctions removed in March[242] ☒N [50][242]
O 2019-01-08 Adrián José Velásquez Figueroa Under house arrest in Spain, allegedly received bribes [50]
O 2019-01-30 María Gabriela Chávez Hugo Chávez daughter, alternate ambassador to UN [182]
G 2019-01-30 Juan de Jesús García Toussantt Former Minister of Transport [182]
G 2019-01-30 Reinaldo Iturriza Minister [182]
G 2019-01-30 Diego Molero Bellavia Defense Minister, former ambassador to Peru [182]
G 2019-01-30 Miguel Rodríguez Torres Former Interior Minister, DISIP director [182]
G 2019-01-30 Francisco de Asís Sesto Novas Gov't official [182]
S 2019-02-15 Rafael Enrique Bastardo Mendoza Commander of Police Special Actions Force (FAES) [52] [154]
S 2019-02-15 Manuel Cristopher Figuera Former Director General of Venezuelan National Intelligence Service, SEBIN ☒N [52][73] ☒N [243]
G 2019-02-15 Manuel Salvador Quevedo Fernández President of state-owned PDVSA and Minister of Petroleum and Mining, Brigadier General [52] [154] [182]
S 2019-02-15 Hildemaro José Rodríguez Múcura First Commissioner of SEBIN [52] [154]
G 2019-02-25 Ramón Carrizales Apure state governor [54] [154]
G 2019-02-25 Jorge García Carneiro
d. 2021-05-22
Vargas state governor [54] [154]
G 2019-02-25 Rafael Alejandro Lacava Evangelista Carabobo state governor [54] [154]
G 2019-02-25 Omar Prieto Zulia state governor [54] [154]
S 2019-03-01 Alberto Mirtiliano Bermudez Valderrey Division General for Integral Defense Zone in Bolivar State [57]
S 2019-03-01 José Miguel Domínguez Ramírez Chief Commissioner of the FAES in Tachira State
former Director of Operations of FAES
[57] [154]
S 2019-03-01 Richard Jesús López Vargas Major General and Commanding General Venezuelan National Guard (GNB) [57] [154]
S 2019-03-01 Jesús Maria Mantilla Oliveros Major General and Commander of Strategic Integral Defense Region Guayana [57]
S 2019-03-01 Cristhian Abelardo Morales Zambrano Director of the PNB and GNB colonel [57] [154]
S 2019-03-01 José Leonardo Norono Torres Division General and Commander for the Integral Defense Zone in Tachira State [57]
G 2019-03-19 Adrián Antonio Perdomo Mata President of Minerven [242] [154]
O 2019-03-26 Omar Enrique Entertainer, associated with Chavismo [183]
S 2019-03-26 Édgar Alejandro Lugo Pereira Military, Foreign Ministry [183]
O 2019-03-26 Argimiro Maduro Morán Maduro's cousin [183]
G 2019-03-26 Carlos Manuel Pino García Husband of Gloria Flórez, politician, associated with Colombian embassy [183]
O 2019-03-26 Ronald Alexander Ramírez Mendoza Head of Monómeros Colombovenezolanos [183]
G 2019-04-12 María Carolina Ameliach Villarroel Judge, TSJ [154][244]
G 2019-04-12 Jorge Arreaza Foreign Minister [69] [154]
G 2019-04-12 Víctor Hugo Cano Pacheco Ministry of Mining [154]
G 2019-04-12 Bárbara Gabriela César Siero Judge, TSJ [154]
S 2019-04-12 Giuseppe Alessandro Martín Alessandrello Cimadevilla Navy Commander [154]
G 2019-04-12 Larry Devoe Márquez Secretary Office of Human Rights [154]
G 2019-04-12 María Alejandra Díaz ANC [154]
G 2019-04-12 Inocencio Figueroa Judge, TSJ [154]
G 2019-04-12 Eulalia Guerrero Rivero Judge, TSJ [154]
G 2019-04-12 Earle Herrera ANC [154]
S 2019-04-12 Carlos Augusto Leal Tellería Commander, National Bolivarian Militia of Venezuela; Food Minister [154]
G 2019-04-12 Marco Antonio Medina Judge, TSJ [154]
S 2019-04-12 José Miguel Montoya Rodríguez National Guard General [154]
G 2019-04-12 Reinaldo Enrique Muñoz Pedroza Solicitor, former SENIAT [154]
S 2019-04-12 José Adelino Ornelas Ferreira Commander National guard, Presidential Guard [154]
G 2019-04-12 Luis Eduardo Ortega Morales CONATEL [154]
G 2019-04-12 Eduardo Piñate Labor Ministry [154]
G 2019-04-12 Gladys Requena Second vice-president of ANC [154]
G 2019-04-12 José Rivas Mayor of Tinaco [154]
G 2019-04-12 Alfredo Ruiz Angulo Public defender [154]
G 2019-04-12 Franco Silva Avila CANTV [154]
G 2019-04-17 Iliana Josefa Ruzza Terán Central Bank Director [66]
G 2019-04-26 Carol Padilla First Special Court of First Instance in Control Functions, Substitute judge of the Court of Appeals of the criminal judicial circuit of Caracas [69]
G 2019-06-27 Eustiquio José Lugo Gómez Deputy Minister of Finance, Investment, and Strategic Alliances for the Ministry of Electric Power [76]
G 2019-06-28 Nicolás Maduro Guerra ANC, Corps of Inspectors of the Venezuelan Presidency, Son of Nicolás Maduro [78]
S 2019-07-19 Rafael Ramón Blanco Marrero DGCIM deputy director [82]
S 2019-07-19 Rafael Antonio Franco Quintero Bolivarian Intelligence Service (SEBIN) agent
DGCIM Director of Investigations (former)
[82]
S 2019-07-19 Alexander Enrique Granko Arteaga DGCIM Special Affairs Unit [82]
S 2019-07-19 Hannover Esteban Guerro Mijares DGCIM Director of Investigations [82]
O 2019-07-25 Walter Jacob Gavidia Flores Stepson of Nicolás Maduro [136]
O 2019-07-25 Yosser Daniel Gavidia Flores Stepson of Nicolás Maduro [136]
O 2019-07-25 Mariana Andrea Staudinger Lemoine Wife of Yosser Daniel Flores [136]
O 2019-07-25 Yoswal Alexander Gavidia Flores Stepson of Nicolás Maduro [136]
O 2019-07-25 Alex Saab Colombian businessman, in US custody since October 2021 [136]
O 2019-07-25 Isham Ali Saab Certain Son of Alex Saab [136]
O 2019-07-25 Shadi Nain Saab Certain Son of Alex Saab, served as director of Group Grand Limited from 2015 to 2017 [136]
O 2019-07-25 Alvaro Enrique Pulido Vargas Colombian business owner and associate of Alex Saab [136]
O 2019-07-25 Emmanuel Enrique Rubio Gonzalez Son of Alvaro Pulido Vargas [136]
O 2019-09-17 Amir Luis Saab Moran Brother of Alex Saab ref name= "Treas17Sep2019">"Treasury Increases Pressure on Alex Saab and His Network in Venezuela" (Press release). U.S. Department of the Treasury. 17 September 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2019.</ref>
O 2019-09-17 Luis Alberto Saab Moran Brother of Alex Saab [141]
O 2019-09-17 David Nicolás Rubio González Son of Alvaro Pulido Vargas, brother of Emmanuel Enrique Rubio Gonzalez [141]
G 2019-09-27 Alexis Enrique Escalona Escalona Marrero Chief in Charge of the National Office Against Organized Crime and Terrorist Financing (ONDOFT); National Commander of National Anti-Extortion and Kidnapping Command (CONAS)
S 2019-09-27 Néstor Blanco Hurtado General of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB)
S 2019-09-27 Carlos Calderón Deputy Director of Bolivarian Intelligence Service (SEBIN)
O 2020-02-18 Didier Casimiro Chairman of the board of directors and president of Rosneft Trading S.A. [76]

Entities sanctioned

Legend

  Governmental organization/state institution (G)
  Company (C)
  Aircraft (A)
  Ship (S)
Company, vessel or entity Sanction
date
Source Sanctioned by Based in Notes
C Rosneft Trading S.A. 2020-02-18 [245] U.S. Russia
Switzerland
"Responsible for operating in the oil sector of the Venezuelan economy and brokered the sale and transport of Venezuelan crude oil."
C Consorcio Venezolano de Industrias Aeronáuticas y Servicios Aéreos, S.A. 2020-02-07 U.S. Venezuela
C Fundacion Venedig 2019-09-17 [141] U.S. Panama
C Inversiones Rodime S.A. 2019-09-17 [141] U.S. Panama
C Saafartex Zona Franca SAS 2019-09-17 [141] U.S. Colombia
C Venedig Capital S.A.S. 2019-09-17 [141] U.S. Colombia
C AGRO XPO S.A.S. 2019-09-17 [141] U.S. Colombia
C Alamo Trading S.A. 2019-09-17 [141] U.S. Colombia
C Antiqua Del Caribe S.A.S. 2019-09-17 [141] U.S. Colombia
C Avanti Global Group S.A.S. 2019-09-17 [141] U.S. Colombia
C Global Energy Company S.A.S. 2019-09-17 [141] U.S. Colombia
C Gruppo Domano S.R.L. 2019-09-17 [141] U.S. Italy
C Manara S.A.S. 2019-09-17 [141] U.S. Colombia
C Techno Energy, S.A. 2019-09-17 [141] U.S. Panama
C Corporacion ACS Trading S.A.S. 2019-09-17 [141] U.S. Colombia
C Dimaco Technology, S.A. 2019-09-17 [141] U.S. Panama
C Global De Textiles Andino S.A.S. 2019-09-17 [141] U.S. Colombia
C Saab Certain & Compania S. En C. 2019-09-17 [141] U.S. Colombia
C Silver Bay Partners FZE (Silver) 2019-07-25 [136] U.S. United Arab Emirates "Responsible for or complicit in, or directly or indirectly involved in, a transaction or series of transactions involving deceptive practices or corruption and the Government of Venezuela or projects or programs administered by the Government of Venezuela."
C Clio Management Corp. 2019-07-25 [136] U.S. Panama Owned and controlled by Emmanuel Enrique Rubio Gonzalez.
C Sun Properties LLC 2019-07-25 [136] U.S. Delaware Owned and controlled by Emmanuel Enrique Rubio Gonzalez.
C Multitex International Trading, S.A. 2019-07-25 [136] U.S. Panama Owned and controlled by Emmanuel Enrique Rubio Gonzalez.
C Global Structure S.A. 2019-07-25 [136] U.S. Panama Owned and controlled by Emmanuel Enrique Rubio Gonzalez.
C Emmr & CIA S.A.S. 2019-07-25 [136] U.S. Colombia Owned and controlled by Emmanuel Enrique Rubio Gonzalez.
C C I Fondo Global De Alimentos LTDA 2019-07-25 [136] U.S. Colombia Owned and controlled by Emmanuel Enrique Rubio Gonzalez.
C Seafire Foundation 2019-07-25 [136] U.S. Panama "Saab and his direct family members were the beneficiaries of the entity that facilitated payments to Saab as a part of the CLAP corruption scheme."
C Mulberry Proje Yatirim Anonym Sirketi (Mulberry A.S.) 2019-07-25 [136] U.S. Turkey "Responsible for or complicit in, or directly or indirectly involved in, a transaction or series of transactions involving deceptive practices or corruption and the Government of Venezuela or projects or programs administered by the Government of Venezuela. Mulberry was used to facilitate payments made as a part of Saab's CLAP corruption network for the sale of gold in Turkey."
C Group Grand Limited General Trading 2019-07-25 [136] U.S. United Arab Emirates "It is a part of the global network of front and shell companies used by Saab and Pulido to facilitate the CLAP corruption scheme."
C Group Grand Limited, S.A. de C.V. 2019-07-25 [136] U.S. Mexico "It is part of the network of shell and front companies used by Pulido and Saab to facilitate the CLAP corruption scheme. The company has a warehouse that was used to receive food from different suppliers and assemble the food into boxes that were shipped from Mexico and sold in Venezuela as a part of the CLAP corruption scheme. The timing of today's action by the U.S. Treasury Department was synchronized with an action by the Government of Mexico."
C Group Grand Limited 2019-07-25 [136] U.S. Hong Kong (China) "The company served as a primary entity in the global network of shell and front companies used by both Saab and Pulido to facilitate the CLAP corruption scheme."
C Asasi Food FZE 2019-07-25 [136] U.S. United Arab Emirates "This company received money from food companies in Venezuela that were receiving food imports and paying money to food providers in Mexico as a means to facilitate the CLAP corruption scheme."
C 19 Mexican food companies 2019-07-18 [173] Mexico Mexico Mexico's Financial Intelligence Unit accuses the 19 companies of money laundering after detecting "irregularities for 150 million USD." The companies were under investigation since 2016 for selling expensive low quality food products to CLAP, a food distribution program established by the Venezuelan government.
G Dirección General de Contrainteligencia Militar 2019-07-11 [80] U.S. Venezuela Agency implicated in the death of Rafael Acosta Arévalo on 29 June 2019.
C Monsoon Navigation Corporation 2019-05-10 [75] U.S. Marshall Islands Registered owner of the tanker, Ocean Elegance.
C Serenity Maritime Limited 2019-05-10 [75] U.S. Liberia Registered owner of the tanker, Leon Dias.
S Ocean Elegance 2019-05-10 [75] U.S. Panama flag Crude oil tanker (IMO: 9038749), owned by Monsoon Navigation Corporation
S Leon Dias 2019-05-10 [75] U.S. Panama flag Chemical and oil tanker (IMO: 9396385), owned by Serenity Maritime Limited
G Central Bank of Venezuela 2019-04-17 [66] U.S. Venezuela "While this designation will inhibit most Central Bank activities undertaken by the illegitimate Maduro regime, the United States has taken steps to ensure that regular debit and credit card transactions can proceed and personal remittances and humanitarian assistance continue unabated and are able to reach those suffering under the Maduro regime's repression."
C Jennifer Navigation Limited 2019-04-12 [63] U.S. Liberia
C Large Range Limited 2019-04-12 [63] U.S. Liberia
C Lima Shipping Corporation 2019-04-12 [63] U.S. Liberia
C PB Tankers S.P.A. 2019-04-12 [63] U.S. Italy
S Alba Marina 2019-04-12 [63] U.S. Italy Floating Storage Tanker, IMO 9151838, PB Tankers
S Gold Point 2019-04-12 [63] U.S. Malta Chemical/Oil Tanker, IMO 9506693, PB Tankers
S Ice Point 2019-04-12 [63] U.S. Malta Chemical/Oil Tanker, IMO 9379337, PB Tankers
S Indian Point 2019-04-12 [63] U.S. Malta Chemical/Oil Tanker, IMO 9379325, PB Tankers
S Iron Point 2019-04-12 [63] U.S. Malta Chemical/Oil Tanker, IMO 9388209, PB Tankers
S Nedas 2019-04-12 [63] U.S. Greek Crude Oil Tanker, IMO 9289166, Jennifer Navigation
S New Hellas 2019-04-12 [63] U.S. Greek Crude Oil Tanker, IMO 9221891, Lima Shipping
S Silver Point 2019-04-12 [63] U.S. Malta Chemical/Oil Tanker, IMO 9510462, PB Tankers
S S-Trotter 2019-04-12 [63] U.S. Panama Oil Products Tanker, IMO 9216547, Large Range
S Despina Andrianna 2019-04-05 [61] U.S. Liberia Crude oil tanker (IMO: 9182667)
C Ballito Bay Shipping Incorporated 2019-04-05 [61] U.S. Liberia Registered owner of the vessel, Despina Andrianna
C ProPer In Management Incorporated 2019-04-05 [61] U.S. Greece Operator of the vessel, Despina Andrianna
S PDVSA Vessels (34) 2019-04-05 [61] U.S. Blocked vessels in which PDVSA has an interest: Amapola 1, Amuay, Bicentenario I, Bicentenario Ii, Bicentenario Iii, Bicentenario Iv, Bicentenario V, Bicentenario Vi, Bicentenario Vii, Bicentenario Viii, Bicentenario Ix, Bicentenario X, Bicentenario Xi, Bicentenario Xii, Bicentenario Xiii, Bicentenario Xiv, Bicentenario Xv, Bicentenario Xvi, Caribe, Cayaurima, Cumanagoto, Gardenia, Gp-21, Gp-23, Jazmin, L-409, Manaure, Mara, Margarita 1, PDVSA Cardon, Sabaneta, Tribilin, Urdaneta, Yoraco
C BANDES 2019-03-22 [128] U.S. Venezuela Simon Zerpa, CEO and President of the Board
C Banco Bandes Uruguay S.A. 2019-03-22 [128] U.S. Uruguay
C Banco Bicentenario del Pueblo, de la Clase Obrera, Mujer y Comunias, Banco Universal C.A. 2019-03-22 [128] U.S. Venezuela
C Banco de Venezuela, S.A. Banco Universal 2019-03-22 [128] U.S. Venezuela
C Banco Prodem S.A. 2019-03-22 [128] U.S. Bolivia
C Minerven 2019-03-19 [59] U.S. Venezuela a.k.a. Compania General de Mineria de Venezuela; Corporacion Venezolana de Guayana Minverven C.A.; CVG Compania General de Mineria de Venezuela CA; CVG Minerven; Via principal Carapal, El Callao, Bolivar, Venezuela; Zona Industrial Caratal, El Callao, Bolivar, Venezuela; National ID No. J006985970 (Venezuela) [VENEZUELA-EO13850]. President, Adrian Antonio Perdomo[242]
C Evrofinance Mosnarbank 2019-03-11 [125] U.S. Russia Bank jointly owned by Russian and Venezuelan state companies.
C Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA) 2019-01-28 [91] U.S. Venezuela
C Constello No. 1 Corporation 2019-01-08 [50] U.S. Delaware Owned or controlled by Gustavo Perdomo
C Constello Inc. 2019-01-08 [50] U.S. St. Kitts and Nevis Owned or controlled by Gustavo Perdomo
C Corpomedios GV Inversiones, C.A. 2019-01-08 [50] U.S. Venezuela Owned or controlled by Raúl Gorrín and Gustavo Perdomo
C Corpomedios LLC 2019-01-08 [50] U.S. Florida Owned or controlled by Raúl Gorrín and Gustavo Perdomo
C Globovision Tele C.A. 2019-01-08 [50] U.S. Venezuela Owned or controlled by Raúl Gorrín and Gustavo Perdomo
C Globovision Tele CA, Corp. 2019-01-08 [50] U.S. Florida Owned or controlled by Raúl Gorrín and Gustavo Perdomo
C Magus Holdings USA, Corp. 2019-01-08 [50] U.S. Florida Owned or controlled by Gustavo Perdomo
C Magus Holding LLC 2019-01-08 [50] U.S. Florida Owned or controlled by Gustavo Perdomo
C Magus Holding II LLC 2019-01-08 [50] U.S. Florida Owned or controlled by Gustavo Perdomo
C Planet 2 Reaching Inc. 2019-01-08 [50] U.S. Delaware Owned or controlled by Raúl Gorrín
C Potrico Corp. 2019-01-08 [50] U.S. Delaware Owned or controlled by Gustavo Perdomo
C Posh 8 Dynamic Inc. 2019-01-08 [50] U.S. Delaware Owned or controlled by Raúl Gorrín
C RIM Group Investments, Corp. 2019-01-08 [50] U.S. Florida Owned or controlled by Raúl Gorrín
C RIM Group Investments I Corp. 2019-01-08 [50] U.S. Florida Owned or controlled by Raúl Gorrín
C RIM Group Investments II Corp. 2019-01-08 [50] U.S. Florida Owned or controlled by Raúl Gorrín
C RIM Group Investments III Corp. 2019-01-08 [50] U.S. Florida Owned or controlled by Raúl Gorrín
C RIM Group Properties of New York, Corp. 2019-01-08 [50] U.S. New York Owned or controlled by Raúl Gorrín
C RIM Group Properties of New York II Corp. 2019-01-08 [50] U.S. New York Owned or controlled by Raúl Gorrín
C Seguros La Vitalicia 2019-01-08 [50] U.S. Venezuela Owned or controlled by Raúl Gorrín
C Tindaya Properties Holding USA Corp. 2019-01-08 [50] U.S. New York Owned or controlled by Gustavo Perdomo
C Tindaya Properties of New York, Corp. 2019-01-08 [50] U.S. New York Owned or controlled by Gustavo Perdomo
C Tindaya Properties of New York II Corp. 2019-01-08 [50] U.S. New York Owned or controlled by Gustavo Perdomo
C Windham Commercial Group Inc. 2019-01-08 [50] U.S. Delaware Owned or controlled by Raúl Gorrín and Gustavo Perdomo
A N133JA tail number 2019-01-08 [50] U.S. U.S. Dassault Mystere Falcon 50EX private aircraft, beneficially owned by Gustavo Perdomo
A N488RC tail number 2018-09-25 [46] U.S. Florida Gulfstream 200 private jet
C Agencia Vehiculos Especiales Rurales y Urbanos, C.A. (AVERUCA, C.A.) 2018-09-25 [46] U.S. Florida Venezuelan company that operates the aircraft N488RC; President Rafael Sarria
C Panazeate SL 2018-09-25 [46] U.S. Spain Owned or controlled by Edgar Sarria
C Quiana Trading Limited (Quiana Trading) 2018-09-25 [46] U.S. British Virgin Islands Rafael Sarria, 2009 President; beneficial owner of aircraft N488RC
C SAI Advisors Inc. 2018-05-18 [43] U.S. Florida Owned or controlled by Rafael Sarria
C Noor Plantation Investments LLC 2018-05-18 [43] U.S. Florida Owned or controlled by Rafael Sarria
C 11420 Corp. 2018-05-18 [43] U.S. Florida Owned or controlled by Rafael Sarria
C American Quality Professional S.A. 2018-03-27 [167] Panama Panama
C International Business Suppliers, Inc. 2018-03-27 [167] Panama Panama
C Inversiones Cemt, S.A. 2018-03-27 [167] Panama Panama
C Lumar Development S.A. 2018-03-27 [167] Panama Panama
C Marine Investment Group Inc. 2018-03-27 [167] Panama Panama
C Marine Investor Corp. 2018-03-27 [167] Panama Panama
C Maritime Administration Group Inc. 2018-03-27 [167] Panama Panama
C Maritime Administration Panama Inc. 2018-03-27 [167] Panama Panama
C Maritime Crews Inc. 2018-03-27 [167] Panama Panama
C Maritime Tanker Administration, S.A. 2018-03-27 [167] Panama Panama
C Maritime Tanker Services, S.A. 2018-03-27 [167] Panama Panama
C Oceanus Investors Corp. 2018-03-27 [167] Panama Panama
C Proalco S.A. 2018-03-27 [167] Panama Panama
C Seaside Services Inc. 2018-03-27 [167] Panama Panama
C Tanker Administrators Corp. 2018-03-27 [167] Panama Panama
C Technical Support Trading 2018-03-27 [167] Panama Panama

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The Lima Group is made up of Argentina (until 24 March 2021[180]), Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Saint Lucia.[179]
  2. ^ Smolansky was formerly an opposition politician in Venezuela and a mayor in Caracas.
  3. ^ Articles in The New York Times,[205] USA Today,[206] and The Washington Post[207] describe Weisbrot as supportive of the policies implemented during Hugo Chávez's presidency.
  4. ^ Hausmann was an adviser to opposition leader Juan Guaidó.
  5. ^ Partial list only; the full list has not been disclosed. As of March 2019, Colombia has banned entry to Colombia or subjected to expulsion at least 200 Venezuelans close to Maduro.[181][183]

References

  1. ^ a b "Treasury sanctions Venezuelan business to isolate Maduro". AP News. 12 April 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  2. ^ a b c Rendon, Moises; Price, Max (3 September 2019). "Are Sanctions Working in Venezuela?". Center for Strategic and International Studies. Retrieved 23 October 2023. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. ^ a b c "10 claves del informe de Michelle Bachelet sobre Venezuela" [10 keys if Michelle Bachelet's report on Venezuela]. Prodavinci (in Spanish). 20 March 2019. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Oral update on the situation of human rights in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela". OHCHR. 20 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019. The extent and severity of the crises in food, health care and basic services, have not been fully acknowledged by the authorities, thus the measures they have adopted have been insufficient. ... Although this pervasive and devastating economic and social crisis began before the imposition of the first economic sanctions in 2017, I am concerned that the recent sanctions on financial transfers related to the sale of Venezuelan oil within the United States may contribute to aggravating the economic crisis, with possible repercussions on people's basic rights and wellbeing.
  5. ^ a b c "Venezuela's humanitarian emergency: Large-scale UN response needed to address health and food crises". Human Rights Watch. 4 April 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019. Also available in Spanish.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g "Venezuela: Overview of U.S. sanctions" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. Federation of American Scientists. 8 March 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Treasury targets Venezuelan government officials supporting the FARC" (Press release). U.S. Department of the Treasury. 12 September 2008. Archived from the original on 21 November 2010. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  8. ^ a b Castellanos, Silvio and Miguel Gutierrez, Andy Sullivan (12 April 2019). "Ex-Venezuelan intelligence chief arrested on U.S. drug trafficking warrant". Reuters. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  9. ^ "US sanctions Venezuelans for alleged Farc links". BBC. 8 September 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  10. ^ a b c d e f "Treasury designates four Venezuelan officials for providing arms and security to the FARC" (Press release). U.S. Department of the Treasury. 8 September 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  11. ^ "S.2142 – Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Act of 2014". Congress.gov. Library of Congress. 18 December 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  12. ^ "Obama signs bill to sanction Venezuelan officials". Associated Press News. 18 December 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  13. ^ "S.2845 – Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Extension Act of 2016". congress.gov. 15 July 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  14. ^ a b "U.S. slaps visa restrictions on current, former Venezuelan officials". Reuters. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  15. ^ a b "Venezuela-related sanctions". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
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