From WN

The Trump administration imposed sanctions targeting eight more Venezuelan officials on Wednesday, including the brother of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez, as punishment for their role in helping create the new legislative super body with President Nicolas Maduro, according to Reuters.

The United States said that sanctions targeting the vital oil industry in Venezuela were still under consideration, but the most recent ones target individual politicians and security figures and will have the Treasury Department freeze their U.S. assets, ban them from traveling to the U.S. and prohibit Americans from doing business with them.

Washington sanctioned Maduro himself last week after similar sanctions from July 26 also targeted 13 Venezuelan political figures in a series of escalation sanctions as the U.S responds to the violent crackdown in Venezuela that’s targeted the opposition and protesting civilians.

“President Maduro swore in this illegitimate Constituent Assembly to further entrench his dictatorship,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. “This regime’s disregard for the will of the Venezuelan people is unacceptable, and the United States will stand with them in opposition to tyranny.”
The most prominent figure in the new sanctions was Adan Chavez, 64, a physicist and older brother to late President Hugo Chavez, but was previously a culture minister, serving for a decade as governor of his home state of Barinas and is now the secretary of the new assembly’s presidential commission.

National Guard Colonel Bladimir Armas was also targeted as he was accused by government critics of human rights abuses.

The Trump administration had previously promised to sanction anyone involved with the new assembly, which Maduro created and has the power to rewrite the country’s constitution, though the opposition claims the new super-body is an attempt at a power grab by the Socialist government.

The United States is still considering sanctions against other prominent figures like Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino and Socialist Party No. 2 Diosdado Cabello, which could be included in future sanctions packages if Maduro does not change course, according to U.S. officials.

Experts say that the individual sanctions will have little or no impact on Maduro’s policies inside Venezuela and that the broader oil or financially targeted sanctions may be the only way to get through to the Venezuelan government, but will be some of the toughest penalties and create more economic pain for the already struggling country.

“I support the president sanctioning these corrupt Maduro regime officials,” said Republican U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, who has worked closely with Trump on the Venezuela issue. “The time has now come for the president to act on his promise to impose significant economic sanctions on the illegitimate Maduro dictatorship.”

Maduro has already blamed the U.S. “empire” for Venezuelan economic struggles and has laughed at the disapproval from the Trump administration, but the U.S. has been mindful of how strong the oil-related sanctions would be for the country and could cause even deeper suffering for the Venezuelan people, along with causing problems for U.S. companies and consumers.

More than 125 people have been killed in unrest since a wave of street protests began in April, with hundreds more arrested or injured in the violence.

-WN.com, Maureen Foody

For more on this story and video go to: https://article.wn.com/view/2017/08/10/More_US_Sanctions_Target_Venezuelan_Officials_With_Close_Tie/