FOREIGN POLICY/HUMAN RIGHTS/VENEZUELA: “The U.S. plans to put sanctions on 13 high-ranking Venezuelan officials for alleged corruption, human-rights violations and undermining the country’s democracy, a congressional aide briefed on the White House’s plans said on Wednesday.
The sanctions, expected to be announced later on Wednesday [7-26-17], come days before embattled President Nicolás Maduro has scheduled a vote for a constituent assembly tasked with redrawing the constitution, a move the opposition believes would result in the end of Venezuela’s endangered democracy.
The officials sanctioned include Tibisay Lucena, the head of the country´s electoral agency, as well as the chiefs of the Venezuelan Army, National Guard and National Police, the aide said. Also to be added to the sanctions list are the finance chief of state oil firm Petróleos de Venezuela and Elías Jaua, a leading politician close to Mr. Maduro. Mr. Jaua previously served as the country’s vice president and foreign minister.
The U.S. put eight Venezuelan supreme court justices under similar sanctions in May after the court issued rulings that gutted the country’s opposition-led congress. The country’s vice president, Tareck El Aissami, was placed on a U.S. Treasury blacklist in February for allegedly aiding drug traffickers, along with financier Samark López.”
-Jose de Cordoba, “U.S. to Put More Venezuelan Officials Under Sanctions,” The Wall Street Journal online, July 26, 2017 12:36pm