The Trump administration ratcheted up the pressure on Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro on Friday — slapping tough new sanctions on six of his top security officials for blocking humanitarian aid at the border.
The Treasury Department said the six, including brass from the national guard and police, are allied with Maduro, who has closed Venezuela’s borders with Brazil and Colombia to prevent help from the US and other countries opposed to his continued hardline rule from entering.
The sanctions block any assets they have in US jurisdictions and bar Americans from conducting financial transactions with them.
They are part of a campaign to pressure Maduro to step down and turn over power to opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who declared himself president on a vow to restore democracy to the country, whose economy is in tatters despite its huge oil industry.
“This action … targets six security officials who control many of the groups that prevented humanitarian aid from entering Venezuela, thereby exacerbating the humanitarian crisis that has left millions of Venezuelans starving and without access to medical care under the Maduro regime,” Treasury said in a statement.
The department said the six people control groups that fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters, set some humanitarian aid trucks on fire and threatened to fire on a ship carrying assistance from Puerto Rico.
Those targeted include the commanders of the national guard and several regional security commanders, including those whose turf includes the borders with Brazil and Colombia.
The US recognized Guaidó as Venezuela’s interim president last month, and NATO and many other countries did the same.
Russia and China back the socialist Maduro, who was re-elected last year in an election widely viewed as illegitimate.
Guaidó had announced that last weekend’s attempt to deliver US-supplied humanitarian aid from Colombia into Venezuela would be politically decisive, but Maduro called the aid part of a scheme to overthrow his government.
Maduro has denounced his opponents as killers and criminals in fiery speeches reminiscent of the style of his predecessor and mentor, Hugo Chavez.
With Post wires
