US imposes sanctions on 21 senior Venezuelan officials for election fraud and repression against opponents. international

The United States has imposed a new round of sanctions against 21 senior officials of the Nicolas Maduro regime in Venezuela over their role in “electoral fraud” in elections last July 28 and the subsequent popular protests and repression of the opposition. The Treasury Department, State Department and White House announced this on Wednesday.

A senior government official said, “The United States has taken steps to increase pressure against Maduro and his proxies who are responsible for the electoral fraud that occurred on and after July 28 and the brutal repression we have seen in recent months.” To journalists on condition of anonymity. Those sanctioned include senior officials of Venezuela’s intelligence and counter-intelligence services, as well as representatives of the Chavista government. “This is not just about holding Nicolas Maduro accountable,” the senior official said. “Those who act illegally to support their regime on the basis of repressive tactics will also find themselves subject to these sanctions.”

The selection of those approved is aimed at attacking Maduro and Diosdado Cabello, considered the regime’s number two. Those punished include his daughter Daniela Desiree Cabello Contreras, president of the Venezuelan Export Promotion Agency since September 2024, and Alexis José Rodríguez Cabello, director of the national intelligence service SEBIN and cousin of the interior minister.

Chavista government officials subject to U.S. sentencing, according to Treasury, include Freddy Alfred Nazarét Nánez Contreras, minister of communications and former president of Venezuela’s national television; Aníbal Eduardo Coronado Millán, Minister of the Office of the President, or William Alfredo Castillo Bole, Deputy Minister of Anti-Blockade Policies at the Ministry of Economy. It also includes General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) head Javier Jose Marcana Tabata and Penitentiary Services Minister Julio Jose Garcia Gerpa.

Their names join those of approximately 180 regime officials and a hundred Venezuelan entities already sanctioned by the United States. Washington in September announced sanctions against 16 other Maduro associates whom it accused of interfering in the vote and human rights violations.

“The repressive actions of Maduro and his proxies following Venezuela’s presidential elections represent a desperate attempt to silence the voices of its citizens,” said Bradley Smith, Acting Under Secretary of State for Counterterrorism and Financial Intelligence. “The United States continues to shine a light on those who use violence and intimidation to undermine democratic governance and the legitimate exercise of free expression.”

The announcement comes as President Joe Biden’s administration has barely 54 days left before handing over power to President-elect Donald Trump, and is attempting to increase pressure on the Maduro regime, although it is unclear whether the new sanctions will result. What effect will it have? Just last week, Washington announced through the State Department that it had recognized opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as the elected president of Venezuela, whom it had declared the winner of the election on August 1.

After declaring himself the winner of the election and denouncing the fraud with which Maduro had declared himself the winner of the election to remain in power, González Urrutia is in exile in Spain after persecution by Chavismo. The former diplomat, recognized as the election winner by the United States, the European Union (without taking the step of declaring him president-elect) and Latin American countries, has assured that he plans to return to his country and take office on January 10. Making. , when the presidential investiture is scheduled in Venezuela. He has not revealed how he plans to do this. In a conversation with reporters this Wednesday, the aforementioned senior US official and others present limited themselves to stating: “We have not received any requests for assistance” to help the opponent return. They also assure that Washington did not interfere with their departure from the country.