US imposes sanctions on 7 Venezuelans, Treasury Department says

The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on seven Venezuelans, the US Treasury Department said. The move is Washington’s latest action to ramp up pressure on President Nicolas Maduro’s government.

The US special envoy for Venezuela said on January 6 that Washington was looking at imposing additional sanctions on Caracas. Elliott Abrams made the statement at the US State Department a day after troops blocked Venezuelan opposition legislators, including their leader Juan Guaido, from entering parliament, Reuters said.

Washington imposed sanctions on the Venezuelan state company PDVSA in early 2019 in a bid to oust President Maduro.