TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/VENEZUELA: “The U.S. government on Monday said it has put Venezuela’s vice president on a sanctions list for allegedly aiding drug traffickers, dealing a setback to the country’s hopes of rebooting bilateral ties during President Donald Trump’s first term.
Executive Vice President Tareck El Aissami and Venezuelan financier Samark Lopez were placed on the Office of Foreign Assets Control blacklist, the Treasury Department said in a statement Monday. The list freezes their assets in the U.S. and blocks U.S. companies and individuals from doing business with them.
Mr. El Aissami ‘facilitated shipments of narcotics from Venezuela,’ while serving as Venezuela’s Interior Minister and then governor of the central Aragua state, said the statement. ‘He oversaw or partially owned narcotics shipments of over 1,000 kilograms from Venezuela on multiple occasions.’ “
– Kejal Vyas and Anattoly Kurmanaev, “U.S. Puts Venezuelan Vice President Tareck El Aissami on Sanctions List,” The Wall Street Journal online, Feb. 13, 2017