ELECTION/SANCTIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/VENEZUELA: “The Trump administration turned up the pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Friday [6-28-19] by targeting his son Nicolas ‘Nicolasito’ Maduro with sanctions, the U.S. Treasury Department said. The new sanctions are the latest push in six months of efforts to oust Maduro, whose 2018 re-election has been deemed illegitimate by the United States and most Western nations. Maduro’s son has been involved in propaganda and censorship, has profited from Venezuelan mines, and helped pressure the military to keep humanitarian aid out of the country, the Treasury Department said…Washington has thrown its support behind opposition leader Juan Guaido, the head of Venezuela’s National Assembly, who invoked the country’s constitution in January to declare himself interim president. Maduro has retained the backing of the country’s military and other institutions, and calls Guaido a Washington puppet. The new sanctions come as Trump holds a series of meetings with world leaders on the sidelines of the G20.”
–Roberta Rampton, “Trump administration targets Maduro’s son ‘Nicolasito’ with sanctions,” Reuters, June 28, 2019 8:54 am