Trump Freezes Venezuelan Government’s Assets

Due to the “continued usurpation of power” by President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuelan, assets of the government have been frozen according to an executive order issued by US President, Donald Trump.

According to reports, the sanctions which came into effect on Monday, represents a significant escalation of U.S attempts to force Maduro out of office.

Recall that the Venezuelan leader won a second term in a disputed election last year.

The U.S. has already used sanctions to target Venezuelan government officials, the central bank and its state-run oil and gas sector, from which the country derives the vast majority of its export earnings.

The Venezuelan economy has collapsed under Maduro, with inflation reaching 130,060 per cent last year and shortages of food and medicines driving millions of people abroad.

Recall also that in January the leader of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, Juan Guaido, declared himself interim president but despite immediately winning the support of dozens of countries has failed to dislodge Maduro.

On Monday Trump accused Maduro’s government of “human rights abuses, arbitrary arrest and detention of Venezuelan citizens, curtailment of free press, and ongoing attempts to undermine Interim President Juan Guaido of Venezuela and the democratically-elected Venezuelan National Assembly.”

The announcement came a day ahead of the International Conference for Democracy in Venezuela in the Peruvian capital Lima, a meeting of representatives from than 50 countries seeking to find a peaceful solution to the crisis in Venezuela.

Trump’s hawkish National Security Advisor John Bolton is to represent the U.S. at the meeting.

Bolton in a tweet published around the same time as the executive order, said he was looking forward to a “productive day”.

Aside Trump’s accusation of Maduro, a 2018 Amnesty International report also “accused Nicolas Maduro’s government of committing some of the worst human rights violations in Venezuela’s history”, according to VOA news.

The report found the violence was carried out especially in Venezuela’s poor neighborhoods, and included “8,292 extrajudicial executions carried out between 2015 and 2017”.

In one year, 22% of homicides (4,667) were committed by security forces. Amnesty International’s Erika Guevara-Rosas said, “The government of President Maduro should guarantee the right to life, instead of taking the lives of the country’s young people.”