BOGOTA, Colombia _ Cilia Flores, the wife of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, was sanctioned Tuesday by the U.S. Treasury Department, in what it called a crackdown on Maduro's "inner circle" of corruption.
Also named were Minister of Defense Padrino Lopez, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez and Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said it was also targeting a network that supports Rafael Sarria, a key front man for Diosdado Cabello, the president of Venezuela's national Constituent Assembly. As part of that action, the agency said it had seized a Florida-based Gulfstream jet worth $20 million that belongs to Sarria.
"President Maduro relies on his inner circle to maintain his grip on power, as his regime systematically plunders what remains of Venezuela's wealth. We are continuing to designate loyalists who enable Maduro to solidify his hold on the military and the government while the Venezuelan people suffer," said Secretary of the Treasury Steven T. Mnuchin. "Treasury will continue to impose a financial toll on those responsible for Venezuela's tragic decline, and the networks and front-men they use to mask their illicit wealth."
Washington has sanctioned more than 60 current and former officials since 2015, including Maduro last year. In 2017, the Trump administration also imposed financial sanctions that have made it difficult for Venezuela to refinance or access more debt. Maduro has blamed those measures for the country's food and medicine shortages.
Also on Tuesday, Treasury identified five companies and people related to Sarria, who it claims is still working as a front-man for Cabello, considered one of the most powerful people in Venezuela.
Among those companies are Venezuela-based Agencia Vehiculos Especiales Rurales y Urbanos (AVERUCA), Quiana Trading Limited, in the British Virgin Islands, and Panazeate SL, based in Valencia, Spain. The order also named Jose Omar Paredes, the chief pilot of AVERUCA, and Edgar Alberto Sarria, the director of Quiana Trading and CEO of Panazeate.
The sanctions bar U.S. citizens and residents from doing business with people on the list and freeze their U.S.-based assets.
The sanctions are part of a broader strategy to bring about political change in Venezuela. In its statement Tuesday, Treasury said "The United States has made it clear that we will consider lifting sanctions for persons ... who take concrete and meaningful actions to restore democratic order, refuse to take part in human rights abuses, speak out against abuses committed by the government, and combat corruption in Venezuela."
