President Trump has escalated sanctions against the illegitimate Maduro regime. Fox News reports:
The White House on Monday announced billions of dollars in new sanctions against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and the country’s state-owned oil monopoly PDVSA, less than a week after President Trump formally recognized Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate leader.
National Security Adviser John Bolton, meanwhile, warned that “all options are on the table” and that Venezuela would face a “significant response” if any harm came to U.S. diplomatic personnel, Guaido, or Venezuela’s opposition-led National Assembly.
The potentially devastating economic move was aimed at increasing pressure on Maduro to cede power to the opposition. Venezuela is heavily reliant on the U.S. for its oil revenue, and sends 41 percent of its oil exports to the United States.
“Today’s designation of PDVSA will help prevent further diverting of Venezuela’s assets by Maduro and preserve these assets for the people of Venezuela,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said during a White House news conference. “The path to sanctions relief for PDVSA is through the expeditious transfer of control to the interim president or a subsequent democratically elected government who is committed to taking concrete and meaningful actions to combat corruption.”
This will be Maduro’s last chance to step down from power peacefully, but this could spiral into armed conflict at any moment.
