UPDATED: Trump administration slaps new financial penalties on the Venezuelan government

[DonViejo]

Last edited Fri Aug 25, 2017, 01:07 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: The Washington Post



By Washington Post Staff August 25 at 12:03 PM

The sanctions would bar dealings in new bonds and stocks issued by the government and state oil company.

A statement issued by the White House said, “These measures are carefully calibrated to deny the Maduro dictatorship a critical source of financing to maintain its illegitimate rule.”
The action followed President Nicolas Maduro’s decision to convene a special assembly to rewrite the constitution of the oil-rich nation and assume many government powers. U.S. and Latin American leaders say Maduro’s government is veering toward dictatorship.

This is a developing story. It will be updated.

###

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/world/wp/2017/08/25/trump-administration-slaps-new-financial-penalties-on-the-venezuelan-government/?pushid=59a04a5733cb8a1d0000000e&tid=notifi_push_breaking-news&utm_term=.bd2d37767636

---

UPDATE:

Trump administration moves to restrict Venezuelan access to U.S. financial system

By Anne Gearan August 25 at 12:37 PM
President Trump moved Friday to restrict the Venezuelan government’s access to the U.S. financial system and squeeze the oil-based economy that sustains authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro, but stopped short of imposing a full oil embargo.

Tough new sanctions dealing with Venezuela’s access to credit were effective immediately, officials aid. Trump signed an executive order barring dealings in new bonds and stocks issued by the government and the state oil company, PDVSA, the parent of Citgo. Banks cannot engage in new lending with the government or the state-run oil giant.

“These measures are carefully calibrated to deny the Maduro dictatorship a critical source of financing to maintain its illegitimate rule,” a statement issued by the White House said.

The action followed Maduro’s decision to convene a special assembly to rewrite the constitution of the oil-rich nation and assume many government powers. U.S. and Latin American leaders say Maduro’s government is veering toward dictatorship.

“The president is making sure that the U.S. financial system will not be complicit in any future further placement of debt that would allow the Venezuelan government to finance this abhorrent behavior,” a senior Trump administration official told reporters in a phone briefing.

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-administration-moves-to-restrict-venezuelan-access-to-us-financial-system/2017/08/25/18b22a5e-89ad-11e7-a50f-e0d4e6ec070a_story.html

[Eugene]

1. U.S. imposes first economic sanctions against Venezuela - Miami Herald

Source: Miami Herald

U.S. imposes first economic sanctions against Venezuela

BY PATRICIA MAZZEI AND FRANCO ORDOÑEZ
AUGUST 25, 2017 11:30 AM

The U.S. imposed its first economic penalties against Venezuela on Friday, hitting the South American country’s financial sector in an attempt to starve President Nicolás Maduro’s government of cash.

The Trump administration banned trades of Venezuelan debt, prohibiting Maduro’s government and its state-run oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela SA, from selling new bonds to Americans or in U.S. financial institutions. President Donald Trump signed an executive order approving the sanctions Thursday.

“In an effort to preserve itself, the Maduro dictatorship rewards and enriches corrupt officials in the government’s security apparatus by burdening future generations of Venezuelans with massively expensive debts,” Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement.

“These measures are carefully calibrated to deny the Maduro dictatorship a critical source of financing to maintain its illegitimate rule, protect the United States financial system from complicity in Venezuela’s corruption and in the impoverishment of the Venezuelan people, and allow for humanitarian assistance.”

-snip-

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article169319977.html

[clu]

10. first economic sanctions under trump maybe

Obama sanctioned them a few years back. good grief no wonder they're struggling - the mere existence of the sanctions dissuades anyone from wanting to do business there

https://www.akingump.com/en/news-insights/obama-to-sign-venezuela-sanctions-bill.html

[EX500rider]

13. No he didn't sanction Venz..

....those sanctions were directed solely at individuals in Venz who were guilty of human rights abuses.

How would that make Venz "struggle"?
All their wounds are self inflicted made by very bad government decisions.

[clu]

15. the bill starts with seven individuals

i started reading about this when it first passed the house, and back then the people targeted by the sanctions were not listed. after spending around an hour looking into it today, i see the signed law implies that other people could be added to the list.
https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/venezuela_eo.pdf


there are thirty people who are on the list according to the treasury dept
https://sanctionssearch.ofac.treas.gov/

anyhow, when i read about the bill back then, the lack of details implied to me that "companies owned by these individuals" would be affected, and with a state focus on their economy, i mistakenly assumed that Venezuelan businesses would fall under that umbrella. my mistake.

while i was looking up that stuff, i looked for information about why their economy is in shambles, outside of the fact that 95% of their exports were oil and the floor has fallen out from under oil prices. this is the best piece I've read so far, and while there is a considerable degree of mis/micromanagement, there are a few grey areas in the story, such as the state centrally controlling US dollars, and private companies in Venezuela having to buy dollars from the state. without knowing more about restrictions those companies have on buying dollars, there is a real chance that some of the commodity shortages are manipulated or exacerbated.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/07/16/world/americas/venezuela-shortages.html

[christx30]

20. No, what dissuades anyone from doing business down there

is that the government either doesn't pay for the services outside businesses do, or the government outright steals everything that's not nailed down. Or price controls stop people from making a profit on goods and services, and currency controls means that Venezuelans can't get foreign currency, like American dollars. So if the thing isn't made in country, you couldn't buy it, because no one would ever accept bolivars as payment.
If I bought 200 TVs wholesale for $300 each, I could sell them for $400 to $500 here in the states. Or I could take them down to Venezuela and sell them for $50 each due to price controls if I'm lucky, or watch them get outright stolen from me by soldiers under orders from Madro's people. So, I'm not going to step foot in Venezuela. And the people there won't get TVs. Or food. Or diapers. Or any of the other things that are necessary for survival.

[HelenWheels]

2. USA meddling in Venezuela again

The only reason the US is interested in Venezuela is because we want its oil and not for any humanitarian reason. Leave them alone. Remember when they tried to take over when Chavez was their leader. He was too smart and over turned their efforts and kicked the US out of their country.

[hack89]

3. That meme is getting worn out. We get all the VZ oil we want.

who do you think their number one customer is?

In any case, the disaster in VZ is of their own making. Hard to imagine a more inept government.

[Bradical79]

7. That's all bullshit

I think it's Trump just bolstering his rep as a tough guy to his supporters, but it doesn't make Chavez or Maduro any less of a disaster for that country. Maduro and his supporters have destroyed Venezuelas democracy even more while murdering people in the streets. It's disgusting.

[GulfCoast66]

26. Oh for christs sake, cut out the bullshit

We get all their oil now.

Perhaps we should stop buying it. Because then the whole country would starve.

Leftist can fuck things up just as much as rightest if their only goal is power.

[Blue_Tires]

32. You're trying too hard

[Bayard]

4. While the people starve

http://www.care2.com/causes/zoo-animals-stolen-and-eaten-during-venezuela-food-shortage.html

[clu]

8. might be easier for their economy to work

if we didn't have sanctions slapped against them. these are not the first

[hack89]

11. These are the very first economic sanctions

The other sanctions were targeted very specifically at a small group of government officials.

Their economic issues are all due to mismanagement and are self inflicted.

[pecosbob]

5. Yeah...except they gave Citgo a pass...

because...they gave Gump a buttload of cash.

[Eugene]

6. Venezuela's Maduro vows to punish opponents for US sanctions

Source: Associated Press

Venezuela’s Maduro vows to punish opponents for US sanctions

By FABIOLA SANCHEZ and JOSHUA GOODMAN
48 minutes ago

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro vowed Friday to prosecute for treason opponents he accused of being behind sweeping U.S. financial sanctions that will strain relations between the countries and make it harder for the socialist leader to raise badly needed cash.

Maduro accused President Donald Trump of trampling on international law and relations with Latin America by taking actions that he said would cause “great damage” to the Venezuelan oil economy as well as American investors who own the country’s bonds.

He singled out the president of Venezuela’s congress, Julio Borges, as being the “mastermind” of the financial and economic “blockade” and called on the government-stacked supreme court and a new, all-powerful constitutional assembly to initiate proceedings against opponents who have lobbied in favor of the sanctions.

“You’ve got to be a big traitor to your country to ask for sanctions against Venezuela,” Maduro said in a televised appearance.

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/27a9d02c27aa46028e310c4f97e31a9e/Venezuela's-Maduro-vows-to-punish-opponents-for-US-sanctions

[clu]

9. boggles the mind

i'll admit ignorance about a lot of Venezuela. I've read criticism but it's hard to place faith in what could be political propaganda. the most damning information I've seen shows pictures of children of government officials on fancy vacations. just going based on the smell test, i'll place responsibility for the economic situation in Venezuela on sanctions instead of mismanagement by a dictator.

note that the opposition politician fingered as the mastermind of the economic blockade - julio borges - is a trump supporter. furthermore, while reading Wikipedia about the last opposition candidate to face maduro - Henrique Capriles - i learned that Capriles is from a wealthy family, with his father playing a role in getting kraft foods to invest in Venezuela in the 1950s. when you consider what other "economic investment" activity the US had in latin America in the 1950s, i think it's a fair characterization that his family would have been part of the elite that Chavez successfully campaigned against. such was the economic divide in the 1990s

[hack89]

12. There is no economic blockade

The root causes of their economic collapse are massive debt and no foreign reserves. In a nut shell there are no dollars to import needed goods like food and medicine.

[clu]

16. yes my mistake

see my reply here - but the post right above was directed towards the sanctions that were passed today =)

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10141852490#post15

[clu]

19. currency controls

I have not studied economics and my only exposure to currency controls is that Nixon chose to implement them for some reason, but given their situation, would the link below factor into the availability of US currency in Venezuela?

https://blogs.thomsonreuters.com/answerson/us-venezuelan-currency-exchange-activities-aml-compliance/

[EX500rider]

14. the economic blockade?

The US is their biggest trade partner for exports AND imports.
Your smell test has failed.

[EX500rider]

17. "....would have been part of the elite that Chavez successfully campaigned against"

No so much campaigned against as replaced with his family as the moneyed elite.

The "mastermind" of the economic sanctions, not blockade (a blockade is a act of war where one country patrols another countries borders and allows no goods to pass through, like we did with Japan in WWII) would be the US govt, unless you think they take their orders from foreigners in S America.

[clu]

18. i'm looking for reputable cites

regarding the net worth of Chavez daughter. so far, I've seen a couple of links from the daily caller and newsmax with bylines like "if the report turns out to be true, then she is worth more than an industrialist." I just emailed my sister to have her translate a Spanish news article about some rice scandal.

no they do not take orders, but borges has been asking for this for a while


http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-venezuela-opposition-boss-asks-wall-street-to-cut-off-maduro-2017-4

[EX500rider]

22. "...but borges has been asking for this for a while"

I imagine he has as Venz slip deeper into a dictatorship, throwing opposition politicians in jail, shutting down the free press, driving off foreign investment with asset seizures, ruining the economy by causing hyperinflation by over printing currency, making up a bogus rubber stamp parliament to side step the elected one, failing to diversify the economy while they still had the money, blowing 100 billion dollars buying votes, failing to maintain or upgrade the infrastructure so they now have rolling blackouts and the water goes off, maintaining strict price controls during 800% inflation causing goods to dry up as selling under cost is a bad business plan long term, making dollars impossible to get with 3 tiered currency controls so no one can buy imports which require dollars....should i go on?

[clu]

27. yes there is a lot to go on about

ledezma was jailed and charged with participating in the blue coup, depending on who you want to believe. there is some consideration here on whether or not fakenews should be handled through policy, whereas Venezuela had an actual coup attempt in recent memory.

Chavez didn't start the currency controls, and in fact their currency exchange - Cadivi - has been robbed more than once. the first occurrence was back in the 50s. that was before the boliviarian revolution. how well off were the indigenous Venezuelans doing under that government? someone posted in GD about a recent vice news special about Venezuela and after watching and reading about some of it, the country does seem hopelessly corrupt, but in Italy there are some areas where businesses have to pay a lot of protection money to the mafia. there is an economist article from 2013 where the president of a state owned iron ore producer was caught taking kickbacks, and maduro is prosecuting him. is maduro now going after the person who Chavez put in charge?

the food shortages I saw in the vice special were at the state subsidized grocer, and there are private grocery stores you can go to. i'm not claiming that they are executing perfectly but there are a few things to consider.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaime_Lusinchi

https://www.economist.com/news/americas/21583252-evidence-huge-rip-offs-heart-bolivarian-revolution-has-unleashed-political

[haveahart]

21. Well, no more free fuel for poor New Englanders.

[EX500rider]

23. Which was just a propaganda move by Venz anyway..

....if you want to help poor people you would start in Africa, not the US, or maybe even in Venz where people are starving and fleeing like rats from a sinking ship.

[haveahart]

24. Poor people deserve to be helped wherever they are. And they were helped.

And sanctions do not help the people living there either.

[EX500rider]

25. "And sanctions do not help the people living there either"

They weren't helping people in Africa anyway so no change there.
And there are various levels of poor people and I guarantee people living in a hovel and starving to death in the Sudan or Somalia need the help about 100 times more. Sending aid to the US is just propaganda even if it helps people.
But Venz helping any country is sad when the Venezuelans need help more then any country in the America's.
No food, no medicine.

Venezuelans trying to cross the border into Colombia to find food:

[haveahart]

28. You do know about US history in South America and our destabilization methods there for decades?

We love some nasty dictators more than others. And we seem to hate the ones who begin by trying to re-distribute the ill-gained wealth and help their people. We sanction and collude to make sure the capitalistic enterprises prevail and do not allow the people to be helped.

[EX500rider]

29. Sure, but the past is the past...

....what the US did 40+ years ago is not currently relevant to Venz.'s problems ..and the "capitalists" countries in South America have food and medicine available and a higher standard of living then Venz., through no fault of the US, their problems are entirely self inflicted.

[EX500rider]

30. "We love some nasty dictators more than others"

And the only country in S. America close to having a dictator?
Venezuela.

[Blue_Tires]

31. Wow... After that big check Maduro sent for Trump's inauguration?