Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Pro-government protesters marched in Caracas against the US sanctions

The UN's human rights chief has criticised the latest US sanctions against Venezuela saying they would intensify the suffering of millions.

Michelle Bachelet, a former president of Chile, said the sanctions were "extremely broad" and would hit the most vulnerable sections of society.

The unilateral measures freeze all Venezuelan government assets in the US and ban commercial transactions.

They are aimed at piling pressure on President Nicolás Maduro to step down.

The US is one of more than 50 nations that do not recognise Mr Maduro as Venezuela's legitimate president.

What did Michelle Bachelet say?

"I am deeply worried about the potentially severe impact on the human rights of the people of Venezuela of the new set of unilateral sanctions imposed by the US this week," the UN human rights commissioner said in a statement.

"The sanctions are extremely broad and fail to contain sufficient measures to mitigate their impact on the most vulnerable sectors of the population."

Despite some exceptions for sales linked to food, clothing and medicine, she said the measures were "still likely to significantly exacerbate the crisis for millions of ordinary Venezuelans".

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Michelle Bachelet has previously criticised the actions of Nicolás Maduro's government

Ms Bachelet has raised concern about the consequences of previous US sanctions against Venezuela. She has also criticised Mr Maduro's government, mainly over its ill-treatment of opponents.

In March she singled out Venezuela as an example of how "violations of civil and political rights" can accentuate inequality and worsening economic conditions.

What were the US measures?

On Monday US President Donald Trump signed an executive order stating that "all property and interests in property of the government of Venezuela that are in the United States... are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in".

The order also bars transactions with Venezuelan authorities whose assets are blocked, stating that "the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order".

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Venezuela crisis: The four countries interested in the presidential battle

"The receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person," is also banned.

US National Security Adviser John Bolton said the new sanctions could be imposed on "anyone who supports" Mr Maduro's government.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Millions of Venezuelans have fled to neighbouring countries to escape economic hardship

The new measures, he added, would force countries and companies to choose between doing business with the US or with Venezuela.

He said America would use "every tool to end Maduro's dictatorship in Venezuela".

Venezuela's foreign ministry denounced the new sanctions and accused Washington of "arbitrary economic terrorism against the Venezuelan people".

What's the background?

The US, along with more than 50 other nations, has given its backing to the head of the National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, who declared himself interim president in January, arguing that Mr Maduro's re-election last year was fraudulent.

Mr Guaidó welcomed the new US sanctions arguing that they punish those "who do business with the regime".

But international pressure has so far failed to remove Mr Maduro from power.

Venezuelans have continued to flee the country's political and economic crisis in huge numbers. More than four million are now living abroad according to UN figures. </s> WASHINGTON, Aug 5 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump imposed a freeze on all Venezuelan government assets in the United States on Monday, sharply escalating an economic and diplomatic pressure campaign aimed at removing socialist President Nicolas Maduro from power.

The executive order signed by Trump goes well beyond the sanctions imposed in recent months against Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA and the country’s financial sector, as well as measures against dozens of Venezuelan officials and entities.

President Donald Trump is taking more dramatic action after numerous rounds of sanctions failed to turn Venezuela’s military against President Nicolas Maduro, above, or make significant progress in dislodging him.

Trump’s action, the toughest yet against Maduro, not only bans U.S. companies from dealings with the Venezuela government but also appears to open the door to possible sanctions against foreign firms or individuals that assist it.

“All property and interests in property of the Government of Venezuela that are in the United States ... are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in,” according to the executive order released by the White House.

The scope of the announcement came as a surprise even to some Trump administration allies. “This is big,” said Ana Quintana, senior policy analyst with the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank.

Quintana said it appeared the order would be a sweeping embargo on doing business with Venezuela, although she was awaiting further details.

The United States and most Western nations have called for Maduro to step down and have recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s legitimate president.

Trump said on Thursday he was considering a quarantine or blockade of Venezuela, although he did not elaborate at the time on when or how such a blockade would be imposed.

U.S. officials have long said they had other weapons in their economic arsenal, even as they privately expressed frustration that European partners and others had not taken stronger steps and that the months-long pressure campaign had not made more headway.

Trump said in a letter to Congress the freezing of assets was necessary “in light of the continued usurpation of power by the illegitimate Nicolas Maduro regime, as well as the regime’s human rights abuses, arbitrary arrest and detention of Venezuelan citizens, curtailment of free press, and ongoing attempts to undermine Interim President Juan Guaido.”

His executive order also threatened sanctions against anyone assisting Maduro or his loyalists, suggesting that Washington could resort to so-called secondary sanctions against third-country companies and individuals.

Fernando Cutz, a former top Trump adviser on Latin America, said the executive order could be applied to non-U.S. firms and entities, limiting their ability to do business with Venezuela if they wanted to continue to deal with U.S. companies or banks.

China and Russia continue to trade oil with Venezuela. The move could escalate tensions with China, already inflamed by a tit-for-tat trade war, said Cutz, now a senior associate with the Cohen Group, a consulting firm.

China and Russia - together with Cuba - have continued to back Maduro, prompting U.S. national security adviser John Bolton to warn Beijing and Moscow on Monday against doubling down in their support for him.

Bolton is slated to give a speech on Tuesday morning at a gathering of more than 50 countries in Lima, Peru, that would outline a planned U.S. initiative to lead to a peaceful transfer of power in Venezuela. </s> Washington — US President Donald Trump imposed a freeze on all Venezuelan government assets in the US on Monday, sharply escalating an economic and diplomatic pressure campaign aimed at removing socialist President Nicolas Maduro from power.

The executive order signed by Trump goes well beyond the sanctions imposed in recent months against Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA and the country’s financial sector, as well as measures against dozens of Venezuelan officials and entities.

Trump’s action, the toughest yet against Maduro, not only bans US companies from dealings with the Venezuela government but also appears to open the door to possible sanctions against foreign firms or individuals that assist it.

Russian and Chinese companies are among those still doing significant business in the South American Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) nation.

“All property and interests in property of the government of Venezuela that are in the US ... are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in”, according to the executive order released by the White House.

The scope of the announcement came as a surprise even to some Trump administration allies.

“This is big,” said Ana Quintana, senior policy analyst with the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank.

Quintana said it appeared the order would be a sweeping embargo on doing business with Venezuela, although she was awaiting further details.

Venezuela’s information ministry did not respond immediately to a request to comment.

The US and most Western nations have called for Maduro to step down and have recognised Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s legitimate president.

Guaido, accused by Maduro of mounting a US-directed coup attempt, appointed a board for Citgo Petroleum, Venezuela’s most important foreign asset, earlier in 2019. </s> LIMA (Reuters) - U.S. national security adviser John Bolton on Tuesday said Washington was ready to impose sanctions on any international company doing business with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a sharp escalation of U.S. pressure on the leftist leader.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro takes part in a meeting with members of the government at Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela July 25, 2019. Miraflores Palace/Handout via REUTERS

Bolton, addressing a summit on Venezuela in the Peruvian capital Lima, emphasized that tougher international action was needed to speed up a transition of power in the country, where more than four million Venezuelans have fled economic collapse.

“We are sending a signal to third parties that want to do business with the Maduro regime: proceed with extreme caution,” Bolton said.

His speech came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order that freezes the assets of the Venezuelan government and bans any transactions with it, an act that could ensnare its dealings with Russia and China as well as with Western companies.

Bolton, one of the Trump administration’s most influential hawks on Venezuela, told reporters the move forces companies around the world to choose whether to risk access to the United States and its financial system for business with Maduro.

Asked by a reporter how Venezuela would respond to the executive order, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said: “I’m going to paraphrase Donald Trump ... All options are on the table.”

Venezuela’s U.N. Ambassador Samuel Moncada asked U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the Security Council on Tuesday to intervene.

“This is an act of war by the United States,” Moncada told reporters. “Venezuela is not a threat to anyone and the United States is fabricating this aggression just to take the oil.”

The 15-member U.N. Security Council will be unable to take any action as the United States is one of the body’s five veto powers, along with Russia, China, Britain and France.

It was the first U.S. asset freeze against an entire government in the Western Hemisphere in more than 30 years. But it was also a reminder that successive rounds of U.S. sanctions have so far failed to peel away the crucial support of Venezuela’s military for Maduro, who took office in 2013 following the death of his political mentor President Hugo Chavez.

Continuing the state controls started under Chavez, Maduro has overseen one of the worst economic collapses in recent world history, leaving his nation of 30 million people with severe shortages of food and medicine despite sitting on the world’s largest oil reserves.

In private, Bolton had told Peruvian officials the measure would have the effect of about tripling current sanctions related to Venezuela, a Peruvian government source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The executive order stopped short, however, of a full U.S. trade embargo of the kind imposed on Cuba, experts said, by excluding Venezuela’s still sizeable private sector.

The order maintains some exemptions for companies that do business with state oil company PDVSA [PDVSA.UL], and licenses published on Tuesday reiterated that companies like Chevron and Halliburton can continue to do business with PDVSA in Venezuela through Oct. 25.

Some experts said the move could lead to pushback from other countries, and would require a lot of time and money to prove foreign companies are undermining sanctions.

“How much is the U.S. government willing to spend in diplomatic capital in economic costs in the United States, in order to further its Venezuela policy? said David Murray of the Washington-based firm Financial Integrity Network, an expert on sanctions compliance.

RUSSIA: ‘ECONOMIC TERROR’

Most Western and Latin American democracies accuse Maduro of rigging elections last year and are calling for him to step down so the country can hold a fresh presidential ballot.

The summit, organized by Peru, a regional leader on demanding democratic reforms in Venezuela, had aimed to build support for new elections with Maduro’s allies. Yet Russia, China, Cuba, Turkey, Bolivia and Iran all boycotted the summit.

Russia’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that Washington’s asset freeze was illegal and amounted to “economic terror”, the RIA news agency reported.

The order also could inflame the U.S.-China trade war if it hits Beijing hard, with Venezuela owing China oil deliveries as repayment for loans through 2021, said Fernando Cutz, a former top aide to Trump on the National Security Council.

Bolton warned Russia against doubling down on its support for Caracas, and urged China to recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s legitimate leader if it wanted to recoup debt owed by Caracas, since a new government in Venezuela might not want to honor agreements made with countries that helped Maduro hang onto power.

Bolton said Washington had taken steps to ensure the sanctions did not hurt Guaido and his allies, nor prevent access to humanitarian goods.

Trump’s Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross also spoke to the Lima summit, promising U.S. support and cooperation to help Venezuela rebuild its oil sector, institutions and economy once Maduro leaves office, without giving details.

The plan has a goal of reversing Venezuela’s decline in oil production within a year, and calls for a long-term deal with the International Monetary Fund, Ross said. </s> The United States has started secret preliminary talks via intermediaries with Diosdado Cabello, the leader of Venezuela’s Socialist party and the man considered the most powerful in the Latin American country after Nicolas Maduro, The Associated Press reported on Monday, quoting a senior U.S. administration official.

The inner circle of Nicolas Maduro are looking to obtain guarantees that they won’t face punishment if they yield to demands to remove Maduro from power, the AP said in its exclusive report.

According to the U.S. administration official who spoke to the AP, an intermediary in close contact with the Trump Administration met with Cabello in Caracas last month. A second meeting is being planned, too. It’s not clear if Maduro knows of and/or has endorsed such talks between Cabello and a contact linked to the U.S. administration, the AP says.

An aide to Cabello, however, told the AP that Cabello is not betraying Maduro and would only hold meetings with Americans or U.S.-backed envoys or negotiators with Maduro’s permission and only if talks lead to easing of the harsh U.S. sanctions on Venezuela and its vital oil industry.

Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order freezing all assets of the Venezuelan government in the United States, noting the move may open space for sanctions against companies doing business with the Maduro government.

The United States imposed sweeping sanctions against Venezuela’s oil industry at the start of this year. Since then, production had fallen drastically with no crude going to U.S. Gulf refineries—once Venezuela’s biggest market. As a result, the already serious humanitarian crisis in the country worsened further.

According to OPEC’s secondary sources—the ones the cartel considers the official production figures—Venezuela’s crude oil production in July 2019 dropped by 32,000 bpd from June to 742,000 bpd. To compare, Venezuela’s crude oil production in 2017 averaged 1.911 million bpd.
• None Six Brilliant Clean Energy Ideas That Never Made It </s> WASHINGTON — The Trump administration froze all Venezuelan government assets in a dramatic escalation of tensions with Nicolás Maduro that places his socialist administration alongside a short list of adversaries from Cuba, North Korea, Syria and Iran that have been targeted by such aggressive U.S. actions.

The ban, blocking American companies and individuals from doing business with Maduro's government and its top supporters, took effect immediately Monday and is the first of its kind in the Western Hemisphere in more than three decades, following an asset freeze against Gen. Manuel Noriega's government in Panama and a trade embargo on the Sandinista leadership in Nicaragua in the 1980s.

While the order falls short of an outright trade embargo — notably, it spares Venezuela's still sizable private sector — it represents the most sweeping U.S. action to remove Maduro since the Trump administration recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela's rightful leader in January. Critically, it also exposes foreign entities doing business with the Maduro government to U.S. retaliation.

"The apparent goal is to give the U.S. the ability to apply the law beyond its borders to allies of Maduro like China, Russia, Cuba, Iran and Turkey," said Russ Dallen, the Miami-based head of Caracas Capital Markets brokerage. "Should those foreign entities continue doing business with Maduro they can have their U.S. assets seized."

The executive order signed by President Donald Trump justified the move by citing Maduro's "continued usurpation of power" and human rights abuses by security forces loyal to him.

U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton hinted earlier Monday that far-reaching U.S. action was close at hand. Speaking to reporters on the eve of an international conference in Peru to show support for Guaidó, he said that the U.S. was readying measures "that will show the determination that the United States has to get a peaceful transfer of power."

Russia, which has staunchly backed Maduro, denounced the U.S. action. Konstantin Kosachev, the head of the Russian upper house's international affairs committee, said Tuesday the move amounts to "international banditry." He added in remarks carried by the state RIA Novosti news agency that it represents an "open meddling into Venezuela's internal affairs."

The measures are likely to exacerbate suffering in an already moribund economy marked by six-digit hyperinflation and a deep, multi-year contraction that surpasses that of the Great Depression in the U.S.

Previous sanctions targeting the South American nation's oil industry, the source of almost all of its export earnings, have already accelerated a crash in oil production that started with Maduro's election in 2013 following the death of his mentor Hugo Chavez.

More than 100 officials and government insiders also have had their U.S. assets frozen and blocked from doing business with Americans. As part of the executive order, Americans or U.S. companies that do business with such individuals face penalties. The same Maduro supporters will also be banned from entering the U.S.

Exceptions will be allowed for the delivery of food, medicine and clothing. Transactions with Venezuela's still sizable private sector do not appear to be affected either. It's unclear how the actions will affect American oil giant Chevron, which last month received a three-month exemption from the U.S. Treasury to allow it to continue drilling for oil with state-run oil monopoly PDVSA.

The Maduro government has yet to respond. But Guaidó celebrated the U.S. action, saying it would protect Houston-based oil company CITGO, Venezuela's most valuable overseas asset, from attempts by Maduro to mortgage its assets. </s> WASHINGTON (AP) - The Trump administration froze all Venezuelan government assets Monday in a dramatic escalation of tensions with socialist leader Nicolás Maduro, who has stubbornly clung to power in the face of mounting international pressure.

The ban on Americans doing business with Venezuela's government takes effect immediately. An executive order signed by President Donald Trump justified the move by citing Maduro's continued "usurpation" of power and human rights abuses by groups loyal to him.

While the order falls short of an outright trade embargo, it represents the most determined U.S. action to remove Maduro since the Trump administration recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela's rightful leader in January. As such, it places Venezuela on par with adversaries such as Cuba, Syria, Iran and North Korea, who have also come under strident U.S. measures.

Previous sanctions have targeted dozens of Venezuelan government insiders as well as the South American nation's oil industry, the source of almost all of its export earnings.

As part of the executive order, Americans will be banned from engaging in transactions with anyone determined to be assisting Maduro or his government. The same Maduro supporters will also be banned from entering the U.S.

Exceptions will be allowed for the delivery of food, medicine and clothing. Transactions with Venezuela's still sizable private sector do not appear to be affected either.

The executive order comes the day before Trump's national security adviser John Bolton and U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross represent the United States at the International Conference for Democracy in Venezuela.

The conference is being attended by representatives from more than 50 nations that recognize Guaidó as Venezuela's president and consider Maduro's re-election last year to be fraudulent.

Moments after the executive order was announced, Bolton tweeted that he was looking ahead to what he hopes will be a "productive" day in Lima, Peru. </s> The Trump administration on Monday banned all use by Americans of Venezuelan cryptocurrency, saying that its introduction is intended to skirt U.S. sanctions. In a separate move, the administration also slapped sanctions on four current and former senior Venezuelan officials accused of corruption and mismanagement.

 

 In an executive order that took effect immediately upon its issuance, President Donald Trump declared illegal all U.S. transactions related to Venezuelan digital currencies, coins or tokens. The prohibition applies to all people and companies subject to U.S. jurisdiction. The move follows the introduction last month of a Venezuelan cryptocurrency known as the "petro," for which the government says it has received investment commitments of $5 billion.

 

 In the executive order, Trump said it was an "attempt to circumvent U.S. sanctions" imposed for democratic backsliding.

 

 The Treasury had said in January that the petro appeared to be an extension of credit to Venezuela and warned that transactions in it may violate U.S. sanctions.

 

 In February, cash-strapped Venezuela became the first country to launch its own version of bitcoin, the petro, in a move that President Nicolas Maduro celebrated as putting his country on the world's technological forefront.

 

 The petro is backed by Venezuela's crude oil reserves, the largest in the world, yet it has arrived on the market as the socialist country sinks deeper into an economic crisis marked by soaring inflation and food shortages that put residents in lines for hours to buy common products.

Maduro had announced late last year that he was creating the digital currency to outmaneuver U.S. sanctions preventing Venezuela from issuing new debt.

 

 Bitcoin and other digital tokens are already widely used in Venezuela as a hedge against hyperinflation and an easy-to-use mechanism for paying for everything from doctor visits to honeymoons in a country where obtaining hard currency requires transactions in the illegal black market.

 

 The government has promised that Venezuelans will be able to use the $60 coins to pay taxes and for public services. But with the Venezuelan minimum wage hovering around $3 a month, it's unlikely citizens will buy in large amounts.

 

 In its own statement on Monday, Treasury said it was hitting the four current and former Venezuelan officials with sanctions that freeze any assets they may have in U.S. jurisdictions and bar Americans from doing business with them.

 

 The four include Americo Alex Mata, a director of Venezuela's National Bank of Housing and Habitat and coordinator of Maduro's 2013 campaign, Willian Antonio Contreras, the head of the body that oversees price controls in the country, Nelson Reinaldo Lepaje, the head of the Office of the National Treasury, and Carlos Alberto Rotondaro, the former president of the Board of Directors of the Venezuelan Institute of Social Security. </s> The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on eight more Venezuelan officials, including the brother of late socialist leader Hugo Chávez, to punish them for their role in President Nicolás Maduro’s creation of a new legislative superbody, US officials said.

The United States targeted individual politicians and security figures but stopped short of placing broader financial or “sectoral” sanctions on its vital oil industry though such actions, the officials told Reuters, are still under consideration.

The new measures announced by the Treasury Department will freeze their US assets, ban them from travel to the United States and prohibit Americans from doing business with them. Washington slapped sanctions on Maduro himself last week following similar action against 13 Venezuelan figures on July 26.

The sanctions marked a further escalation of the US response to Maduro’s establishment last week of the new constituent assembly, an all-powerful body run by his Socialist party loyalists and which has drawn international condemnation.

“President Maduro swore in this illegitimate constituent assembly to further entrench his dictatorship, and continues to tighten his grip on the country,” US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. “This regime’s disregard for the will of the Venezuelan people is unacceptable, and the United States will stand with them in opposition to tyranny until Venezuela is restored to a peaceful and prosperous democracy.“

Most prominent among those targeted on Wednesday was Adán Chávez, 64, a physicist and late president Hugo Chavez’s elder brother. He is former culture minister, served for nearly a decade as governor of his home state of Barinas and is now secretary of the new assembly’s presidential commission.

Also facing sanctions was Bladimir Armas, a national guard colonel accused by government critics of human rights abuses.

The latest measures were intended to make good on the Trump administration’s threats to sanction anyone who helped create or joined the new assembly. The US government accused all eight of participating “in actions or policies that undermine democratic processes or institutions in Venezuela”.

Donald Trump’s administration is continuing to weigh possible sanctions against more senior figures, including Venezuelan defense minister Vladimir Padrino and Socialist party No 2 Diosdado Cabello, and they could be included in future sanctions packages if Maduro does not change course, the US officials told Reuters.

But experts say individual sanctions, while providing strong symbolism, have had little or no impact on Maduro’s policies.

The United States has held off from imposing broader sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry, mindful of the potential not only for deepening the suffering of the Venezuelan people but also the risk of causing problems for US companies and consumers.
U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order freezing all assets and interests of the Venezuelan government as contained within the United States, a severe escalation from recent industry sanctions and verbal rhetoric. Twenty-one exceptions are issued, for companies providing services including oil, aid, and telecommunications. The expanded sanctions are widely criticized as likely to worsen the conditions for people in Venezuela.