Donald Trump’s reign as the United States president will be remembered for his habit of imposing sanctions on foreign countries. On Monday POTUS placed new sanctions on Venezuela. This move comes only one day after Nicolas Maduro won Venezuelan elections. The new president was trying to sell governments debt in order to increase his personal wealth, and his election is being called a ‘sham’ by the US government.
President Trump signed a new order which prevents American companies from buying debt from Venezuela. The sanctions are so harsh that US companies are not allowed to buy off debt from Petróleos de Venezuela which is an oil company owned by the Venezuelan government.
The new set of measures imposed by Trump have a goal of preventing further enrichment of Maduro and his top brass executives who, according to Trump administration, were using public funds for their gain for years and have plans to continue with similar actions.
In recent months Venezuela underwent economic collapse which led to a massive exodus of its citizens, humanitarian crisis, food shortages, prices inflation, a broken-down health system and a rash of crime.
According to the United States vice president Mike Pence, the elections in which Maduro won his second term were fixed, and that his government is nothing else but a dictatorship. These claims come after Maduro refused to allow an intake of humanitarian aid into the country.
In an official statement, Mr. Pence said: “The illegitimate result of this fake process is a further blow to the proud democratic tradition of Venezuela. The United States will not sit idly by as Venezuela crumbles, and the misery of their brave people continues.”
One of the government officials in Venezuela, who wanted to stay anonymous claims that election process was nothing but a scam. He claims that Maduro fixed the elections by manipulating National Electoral Council and the members of the media; by threatening leaders of opposition; and by selectively giving out food and money to his hungry compatriots in order for them to vote for him. The same official said that Maduro had tents set up near the voting locations where people could get food and money if they provide him with proof that they voted for him.
This set of sanctions is the third one imposed by Donald Trump and all in attempt to stop Maduro and his government from using the public funds for their benefit in the already money-strapped country. For long periods of time Maduro and his subordinates have been selling government entities for petty pennies and under the market value. They would keep the money for themselves while the country remains in shambles with shortages of money, food, and other things essential for normal life.
While sanctions are harsh, they don’t hit oil sector directly because this move would make Venezuelan people even poorer and would affect US companies dealing in this sector. The oil trade remains on the table for both Venezuela and US companies.
Source: www.nytimes.com