U.S. Slaps Sanctions on Venezuelan Regime

The Trump administration will place new sanctions on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the U.S. Treasury Department announced Monday. The Treasury froze Maduro’s U.S.-based assets and forbade all U.S. persons from dealing with the Venezuelan president. The sanctions come in response to Maduro’s decision to hold Sunday elections on a new constitutional assembly, which would redraw the Venezuelan government and likely cement the unpopular leader’s rule. Venezuelan officials claimed more than 8 million people voted for the new constitutional assembly. But analysts dispute the number, and say that fewer than 4 million people voted at all. In a Monday statement, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin called Maduro “a dictator who disregards the will of the Venezuelan people.”