U.S. sanctions during the Venezuelan crisis
[2] Beginning in January 2019, during the Venezuelan presidential crisis, the U.S. applied additional economic sanctions to individuals or companies in the petroleum, gold, mining, and banking industries and a food subsidy program.In October 2023, the administration of Joe Biden temporarily lifted some U.S. sanctions on the oil, gas and gold industries in exchange for the promise of the release of political prisoners and free 2024 elections.[3][4] Most of the sanctions were reimposed in April when the U.S. State Department said the Barbados Agreement to hold free elections had not been fully honored,[5] although waivers were allowed to some companies in the form of individual licenses to continue operating in the oil sector.[7] Prior to the ongoing crisis in Venezuela, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned three current or former Venezuelan government officials in 2008, saying there was evidence they had materially helped the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in the illegal drug trade.[10] 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.[16] Obama issued Executive Order 13692 in March 2015 to block assets or impose 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.[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.[24] Tareck El Aissami, Vice President of Economy and Minister for National Industry and Production, and his frontman Samark Jose Lopez Bello were named in February under the Kingpin Act as significant international narcotics traffickers.[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] Those sanctioned included Minister Freddy Bernal, who headed the Local Committees for Supply and Production (CLAP) food subsidy program, and was previously named in 2011 as a drug trafficker under the Kingpin Act for aiding FARC.[43] The U.S. Treasury Department said the Cabello brothers had "approved a money laundering scheme based on illicit financial activities targeting the Venezuelan state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A.[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 had granted access to criminal organizations in exchange for money.[63][64] The U.S. State Department described 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.[68] The U.S. sanctioned two former Venezuelan government officials, Luis Alfredo Motta Domínguez and Eustiquio Jose Lugo Gomez, on 27 June alleging they were engaging in significant corruption and fraud.[73] On 19 July 2019, Mike Pence announced new sanctions on DGCIM officials who he held responsible for repressing and torturing Venezuelans, stating that the United Nations had reported nearly 7,000 "killings by [the] Maduro regime in the last 18 months".[80][81] On 22 September 2020, the U.S. Treasury described five sanctioned individuals as supporting, manipulating and rigging the upcoming 2020 Venezuelan parliamentary elections: Miguel Ponente, Guillermo Luces, José Bernabé Gutiérrez, Chaim Bucaran and Williams Benavides.[90][91] Following the declaration without evidence by Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE) and validation by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) that Maduro had won the 28 July 2024 presidential election, condemned as fraudulent, Reuters reported on 21 August 2024 that the U.S. was reviewing a list of 60 individuals and their family members for possible sanctions.[94] Among the sanctioned were five members of the TSJ, the lower-court judge who issued a warrant for the arrest of opposition candidate Edmundo González,[94][95] the CNE, and "military and intelligence officials accused of post-election repression", along with "visa restrictions on an unspecified number" of others.[125][126] An unnamed U.S. senior official told Bloomberg that these companies and vessels accounted 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".Both ships sanctioned carried Panama flags: the tanker Ocean Elegance was owned by Monsoon Navigation Corporation, and Leon Dias by Serenity Martitime Limited.[136] 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".[146] On 17 April 2024, the U.S. announced that some of these sanctions would be reinstated because the Barbados Agreement had not been fully honored and the leading opposition candidate María Corina Machado had not been allowed to run in presidential elections.[5][149] Waivers to operate in spite of the sanctions were extended to companies with existing oil and gas assets and production in Venezuela; in addition to Chevron, these included Spain's Repsol, Italy's Eni, France's Maurel & Prom,[141] and BP in Trinidad and Tobago,[150] with as many as 50 licenses being reviewed as of May 2024.[167] 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.[60][61] 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".[180] On 25 July 2019, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned 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, along with 10 people including Maduro's stepsons and Colombian businessman Alex Saab.[181] 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.[182] 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.[187] 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 profit from food import and distribution.[208] 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.
Venezuela
Petrocaribe members and CARICOM members
Petrocaribe members not part of CARICOM
CARICOM members not part of Petrocaribe
Crisis in VenezuelaBolivarian RevolutionChavismoEconomic policy under Hugo ChávezEconomic policy under Nicolás MaduroRefugee crisisEnergy crisis2019 blackouts2024 blackoutsZulia energy collapseDefectionsInternational sanctionsInterventions of political partiesPiracyShortagesVenezuela–Colombia migrant crisisHyperinflationCatatumbo campaignXenophobic incidentsPemon conflictSiege of the Argentine Embassy in VenezuelaDakazoLa SalidaArrest of Antonio Ledezma2017 Venezuelan constitutional crisisLima Group2018 re-election campaign of Nicolás MaduroVenezuelan presidential crisis2019 shipping of humanitarian aid to VenezuelaVenezuela Aid LiveCOVID-19 pandemic2022 recall movement2023 Unitary Platform presidential primaries2024 Venezuelan political crisis2013 presidential election2015 parliamentary election2017 referendum2017 Constituent Assembly election2018 presidential election2020 parliamentary election2023 referendum2024 presidential electionProtestsCaracas helicopter incident2017 National Assembly attackAttack on Fort ParamacayEl Junquito raidCaracas drone attack2019 uprising attempt2020 Barquisimeto shootingOperation Gideon (2020)2021 Apure clashes2022 Arauca clashesVenezuelanNicolás Madurosanctions applied by the European Union, Canada, Mexico, Panama and Switzerland2017 Venezuelan protestsSupreme Tribunal of Justice2017 Constituent National Assemblyhuman rights abusescorruptionBarack ObamaDonald TrumpJoe Biden2024 electionsBarbados AgreementHugo CarvajalCongressional Research ServiceUnited States Department of the TreasuryForeign Narcotics Kingpin Designation ActOffice of Foreign Assets ControlRevolutionary Armed Forces of Colombiaillegal drug tradeVenezuela's military intelligenceHenry Rangel SilvaNational Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention ServicesRamón Rodríguez ChacínHugo ChávezVenezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Act of 2014human rights violations2014 Venezuelan protestsUnited States Department of Statepolitical corruptionarbitrary arrest and detentionnaval blockadeAntonio Benavides TorresVenezuelan National GuardGustavo González LópezTibisay LucenaTareck El AissamiMaikel MorenoVenezuelan Supreme Justice TribunalVenezuelan National Assembly2017 Venezuelan Constituent Assembly electionsElías JauaNational Electoral CouncilNéstor ReverolTarek William SaabIris VarelaFreddy Bernalhead of stateBashar al-AssadKim Jong-unRobert MugabeKu Klux KlanWhite HouseFrancisco AmeliachAdán Chávezregional electionsLocal Committees for Supply and ProductionJorge RodríguezDelcy Rodríguez2018 Venezuelan presidential electionDiosdado CabelloSENIATCilia FloresVladimir Padrino LópezGlobovisiónRaúl GorrínMike PenceCentral Bank of VenezuelaIliana RuzzaJohn R. BoltonUnited States Secretary of the TreasurySteven MnuchinJorge Arreaza