OFAC targets Venezuelan officials over election

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (‘OFAC’) has designated 13 senior officials of the Venezuelan government in connection with its forthcoming election on 30 July of a new National Constituent Assembly (Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, ‘ANC’) that will have ‘the power to rewrite the Venezuelan constitution and may choose to dissolve Venezuelan state institutions.’

OFAC said: ‘A flawed ANC election process all but guarantees that a majority of the Assembly’s members will represent the interests of President Maduro’s government. In a “popular consultation” organized by the opposition and held on July 16, 2017, Venezuelans overwhelmingly opposed the ANC process.’

Venezuela has experienced months of violent anti-government protests against the regime of President Nicolas Maduro, and the creation of the ANC is seen by critics as a culmination of the government’s efforts to sideline opposition parties.

Political tensions have been exacerbated by an economic backdrop of severe shortages of food and medicine, entrenched recession and hyper-inflation.

OFAC’s sanctions target current and former government officials linked to the elections and the ‘undermining of democracy, as well as the government’s rampant violence against opposition protesters and its corruption,’ and include Rocco Albisinni, Principal Director of the country’s National Development Fund (FONDEN), and Alejandro Fleming Cabrera (Chief Ambassador of Venezuelan Mission to the European Union) amongst the individuals designated.

Speaking in the most recent issue of WorldECR, lawyer Jason Poblete said: ‘The Trump administration inherited a cauldron which is now reaching a critical point, and that is what has driven the president to open up the possibility of imposing sanctions.’

In February, OFAC designated Venezuela’s executive vice-president, Tareck Zaidan El Aissami Maddah, as a specially designated narcotics trafficker pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act.

For a list of those designated see:
https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/OFAC-Enforcement/Pages/20170726.aspx