Trump Imposes Harsh Sanctions on Venezuela

Local Editor

The Trump administration Friday slapped sweeping financial sanctions on Venezuela, barring banks from any new financial deals with the government or state-run oil giant PDVSA.

The sanctions Trump signed by executive order are bound to dramatically escalate tensions between Venezuela and the US and exacerbate the country's economic crisis.

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

Trump's National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster ruled out any armed intervention in Venezuela, at least in the "near future."

"We always look at a broad range of contingencies of how this might evolve in the future," McMaster told a White House briefing.

He further stated: "Any decision will be in conjunction with the partners of the region and military actions are not anticipated in the near future."

The actions prohibit dealings in new debt and equity issued by the government of Venezuela and its state oil company. They also prohibit dealings in certain existing bonds owned by the Venezuelan public sector, as well as dividend payments to the government of Venezuela.

But they stop short of cutting off US imports of Venezuelan oil that are crucial both to Venezuela's economy and US oil refiners.

US Vice President Mike Pence had signaled the upcoming move earlier, tweeting that the US "will not stand by as Venezuela crumbles." "The birthright of the Venezuelan people has always been and will always be libertad," he wrote, using the Spanish word for "freedom."

"We don't understand," Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said after talks with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, vowing that the government of President Nicolas Maduro would defend itself and saying Venezuela was a democracy.

"We will protect our people and the people of the republic, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, are going to stand up," he said.

"Maybe the United States is trying to create or promote a humanitarian crisis in our country?" Arreaza said. "What do they want? They want to starve the Venezuelan people? What is it they're looking for?"

"We believe that in the 21st century, in this world, all the issues have to be solved through dialogue, through diplomacy and not through threats of war," the Venezuelan foreign minister said.

Trump has so far spared Venezuela from broader sanctions against its vital oil industry, but officials have said such actions are under consideration.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team