US sanctions against Venezuelan officials: new crime

The Venezuelan government described it as a The sanctions announced Thursday by the United States against 16 officials of the country constitute a new crime of aggression, including members of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), the National Electoral Council (CNE) and Parliament, for falsely proclaiming Nicolás Maduro as the winner of the July elections.

In a statement, the Venezuelan government rejected, in the strongest terms, this “new crime of aggression committed by the government of the United States of America against Venezuela, by imposing unilateral, illegitimate and illegal coercive measures on a group of state officials.”

Who are the Venezuelan officials sanctioned by the US?

Among those sanctioned are the president of the TSJ, the Chavista Caryslia Rodríguez; the president of the Civil Registry and Electoral Commission of the CNE, Rosalba Gil Pacheco, and the vice president of the National Assembly (AN, Parliament), the pro-government Pedro Infante.

For the Chavista government, the United States demonstrates “once again its total disregard for international law, the self-determination of peoples and the democratic will of the Venezuelan people.”

However, he continued, “little can be expected from the most hostile and bloodthirsty power that humanity has ever known, responsible for millions of murders around the world with genocidal partners and a history of indifference to the needs of its own citizens.”

With these “erroneously named sanctions, which have been shamefully promoted by the fascist extreme right,” as Chavismo usually refers to the opposition, “they break and violate the agreements signed in Qatar” between both American countries.

Caracas also said that Washington “will once again follow the path of failure and will be defeated by the dignity of Venezuela, which will continue to achieve new goals.”

According to the Venezuelan government, this “attack against people who defend the sovereignty and peace of the nation on a daily basis only confirms their willingness to make sacrifices and earns them the recognition of the entire population.”

Sanctions against Maduro government officials

The Treasury Department sanctioned 16 people close to Maduro, including magistrates Fanny Márquez, Inocencio Figueroa, Malaquías Gil Rodríguez and Juan Hidalgo, as well as prosecutor Luis Ernesto Duéñez, who issued the arrest warrant against the standard-bearer of the largest opposition coalition, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), Edmundo González Urrutia, whom the United States considers the winner of the elections.

He also sanctioned the acting general secretary of the electoral body, Antonio José Meneses, as well as the operational strategic commander of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB), Domingo Hernández Lárez, and the commander of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB, militarized police)Elio Estrada, whom he accuses of repressing the population.

Under these sanctions, all their personal property and assets in the United States are blocked and they are prohibited from carrying out financial transactions.