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Blacklisting of High-Ranking Venezuelan Officials a ‘Shot Across the Bow’ by Irate U.S.
By Brian Monroe
printThe U.S. government Friday blacklisted two senior Venezuelan government officials and a former official - all in high-ranking positions pledged to fight criminals and terrorists - for actively aiding a designated terrorist group, a glancing blow to a country becoming increasingly more hostile to American interests, say sanctions analysts. The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) stated that Hugo Barrios, who directs the country's military intelligence unit, Henry Silva, who heads Venezuela's counterintelligence activities and Ramon Chacin, the former Justice Minister, materially assisted the drug trafficking activities of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). In a statement,...
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U.S. officials are weighing the imposition of new travel and financial restrictions on individuals and companies in Venezuela in light of the country's deteriorating institutional and economic crisis.
U.S. officials are increasingly relying on economic sanctions as a tool of foreign policy, but the effectiveness of sanctions in achieving policy objectives is questionable, according to Bryan Early, political science professor at University at Albany.
The United States Monday blacklisted seven former and current Venezuelan military and law enforcement officials for their alleged roles in violent crackdowns on protestors.
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Congressional leaders called for the U.S. State Department to deem Venezuela a State Sponsor of Terrorism Friday for allegedly supporting Iran's nuclear weapons efforts and a blacklisted South American separatist group.
At least a dozen U.S. and foreign financial institutions are considering limiting operations in Venezuela or leaving the country entirely in the wake of threats to nationalize banks.
A Venezuelan securities exchange market has raised concerns among U.S. Treasury Department representatives, who say that the process lacks transparency and may be ripe for abuse, according to Luis Rivases, president of the Venezuelan Capital Markets Compliance Officers Association.
Iran is considering purchasing at least one of three Venezuelan banks to circumvent international sanctions requiring many of the world's banks to freeze the funds of five Iranian financial institutions, according to anti-money laundering consultants and Iranian news reports cited by the BBC.
The Bush administration may blacklist Venezuela as a state sponsor of terror, a move that could restrict business between the South American country and U.S. companies, according to a news report.
Nine Republican lawmakers introduced a resolution to the U.S. House of Representatives Friday calling on the Bush administration to sanction Venezuela over its ties to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
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