US imposes sanctions against 60 Venezuelan officials

US imposes sanctions against 60 Venezuelan officials Reuters. The move comes in response to contested elections in the Bolivarian country on July 28.

According to the British agency, the targets of the sanctions, which have not been named, include members of the CNE (Venezuela’s National Electoral Council), the country’s Supreme Court and the country’s Bolivarian Intelligence Service.

Penalties levied against officials include banning travel to the United States by permit holders and their family members and barring American companies from doing business with targets.

However, the process of creating the barriers is not yet ready for publication. The U.S. Treasury Department and Itamarati’s equivalent of the U.S. State Department are working on the matter.

Elections in Venezuela

Presidential elections were held in Venezuela on July 28. The Chavista government-controlled CNE declared Nicolás Maduro (United Socialist Party of Venezuela, left) re-elected, but the opposition accused of fraud and Edmundo González (Democratic Solidarity Platform, center-right), its candidate, was the winner.

Many countries and international organizations opposed the decision issued by the Electoral Commission, including the OAS (Organization of American States), which endorsed the US’s draft resolution to release electoral records of the elections.

However, with Venezuela’s withdrawal from the OAS in 2019, the impact of the decision has been little or nil so far. The country withdrew from the international body after its Permanent Council failed to recognize the legitimacy of Nicolás Maduro’s government.