United States sanctions during the Venezuelan crisis

in 2016; the former head of intelligence and confidant of Chávez was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2008, arrested in Spain in 2019, and pled guilty to narcoterrorism charges in the U.S. in 2025. Prior to the ongoing crisis in Venezuela, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned three current or former Venezuelan government officials in 2008, saying there was evidence they had materially helped the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in the illegal drug trade. The order "[froze] any assets the designated entities and individuals may have under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibit[ed] U.S. persons from conducting financial or commercial transactions involving [the] assets" and extradited to the U.S. in July 2023. He pled guilty to all charges in a U.S. court in 2025. In 2011, four allies of Hugo Chávez, including a general, two politicians, and an intelligence official, were sanctioned for allegedly helping FARC obtain weapons and smuggle drugs. U.S. president Barack Obama signed the Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Act of 2014, imposing sanctions on Venezuelan individuals held responsible by the U.S. for human rights violations during the 2014 Venezuelan protests. On 2 February 2015, the United States Department of State imposed visa restrictions on Venezuelan officials that were linked to alleged human rights abuses and political corruption. The visa restrictions included family members. The U.S. maintained both broad and targeted sanctions against the leadership of the governments of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. Into 2020, Trump expressed that he believed that the removal of Maduro from office was occurring too slowly and that incremental processes, such as sanctions, did not provide results; he began to consider military options, including a naval blockade. == On individuals ==

Under EO 13692, the Obama administration sanctioned 7 individuals, and the Trump administration had sanctioned 73 as of 8 March 2019. 2015 Obama issued a presidential order on 9 March 2015 declaring Venezuela a "threat to [U.S.] national security", and ordered the Treasury Department to freeze property and assets of seven Venezuelan officials it held responsible for human rights abuses, repression and at least 43 deaths during demonstrations. Among those sanctioned were Antonio Benavides Torres, former leader of the Venezuelan National Guard, and SEBIN directors Manuel Bernal Martínez and Gustavo González López. 2017 (died 2023), sanctioned for her role in the Venezuelan elections Tareck El Aissami, Vice President of Economy and Minister for National Industry and Production, and his frontman Samark Jose Lopez Bello were named in February under the Kingpin Act as significant international narcotics traffickers. Five U.S. companies in Florida and an airplane registered in the U.S. were also blocked. The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Maikel Moreno and seven members of the Venezuelan Supreme Justice Tribunal (TSJ) in May for usurping the functions of the Venezuelan National Assembly and permitting Maduro to govern by decree. In July, thirteen senior officials of the Venezuelan government associated with the 2017 Venezuelan Constituent Assembly elections were sanctioned for what the U.S. labeled as their role in undermining democracy and human rights. Those sanctioned included Elías Jaua, Presidential Commission for the ANC and Minister of Education; Tibisay Lucena, President of the Maduro-controlled National Electoral Council (CNE); Néstor Reverol, Minister of Interior and former Commander General of Venezuelan National Guard (GNB), indicted in 2016 by U.S. for drug conspiracy; Tarek William Saab, Ombudsman and President of Moral Council; Iris Varela ANC member and Prisons Minister; and Carlos Erik Malpica Flores, former finance VP for PDVSA. in 2003 The U.S. State Department condemned the Venezuelan Constituent Assembly election and refused to recognize it. The day after the election, the U.S. sanctioned Maduro, stating that the election "aspires illegitimately to usurp the constitutional role of the democratically elected National Assembly, rewrite the constitution, and impose an authoritarian regime". Maduro became the fourth head of state to be sanctioned by the U.S. government after Bashar al-Assad of Syria, Kim Jong-un of North Korea and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. Maduro fired back at the sanctions during his victory speech saying "I don't obey imperial orders. I'm against the Ku Klux Klan that governs the White House, and I'm proud to feel that way." for participating in "anti-democratic actions pursuant to Executive Order 13692" by facilitating the "illegitimate Constituent Assembly to further entrench [Maduro's] dictatorship". The individuals sanctioned included Francisco Ameliach and Adán Chávez, the brother of Hugo Chávez. the U.S. Treasury Department described the individuals as being "associated with undermining electoral processes, media censorship, or corruption in government-administered food programs in Venezuela". Those sanctioned included Minister Freddy Bernal, who headed the Local Committees for Supply and Production (CLAP) food subsidy program, and was previously named in 2011 as a drug trafficker under the Kingpin Act for aiding FARC. Four more current or former officials were added to the sanctioned list in March 2018. Just before the May 2018 Venezuelan presidential election, the U.S. sanctioned four Venezuelans and three companies it said were involved in corruption and money laundering including Diosdado Cabello, Chavismo's number two person and President of the ANC, The U.S. Treasury Department said the Cabello brothers had "approved a money laundering scheme based on illicit financial activities targeting the Venezuelan state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA)." Maduro's wife, Cilia Flores, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, and her brother Jorge Rodríguez, Minister of Communications, were sanctioned. 2019 in 2023 The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned seven individuals on 8 January 2019, who they said were benefitting from a corrupt currency exchange scheme. Alejandro Jose Andrade Cedeño, a former national Treasurer, "was sentenced by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on November 27, 2018, to 10 years in prison for accepting over $1 billion in bribes for his role" in the scheme. OFAC also sanctioned five other individuals and 23 companies, During the February 2019 shipping of humanitarian aid to Venezuela, U.S. Vice-president Mike Pence announced that four Venezuelan state governors, who the U.S. said had furthered the humanitarian crisis by participating in the blocking of aid, were added to the sanctions list. On 1 March, six more military and security forces individuals were blacklisted, including members of FAES (Fuerzas de Acciones Especiales), a special police force, who the U.S. alleged helped obstruct the delivery of humanitarian aid. The U.S. sanctioned Minerven, Venezuela's state-run mining company, and its president, Adrian Antonio Perdomo in March 2019; the U.S. Treasury department said that the Venezuelan military had granted access to criminal organizations in exchange for money. The U.S. Treasury added sanctions on 17 April to the Central Bank of Venezuela and one of its directors, Iliana Ruzza. U.S. National Security Advisor John R. Bolton said the sanction was "aimed at restricting U.S. transactions with the bank and cutting off the bank's access to U.S. currency", as a warning to Russia and others. On 26 April 2019, the U.S. Treasury accused Maduro's foreign minister Jorge Arreaza and Judge Carol Padilla of exploiting the U.S. financial system to support Maduro, and blacklisted them. The U.S. State Department described Arreaza as being "at the forefront" of the Maduro administration attempts "to thwart the democratic aspirations of the Venezuelan people", and Padilla as the judge involved in the detention of Roberto Marrero, who was Juan Guaidó's top aide. Following the Venezuelan uprising on 30 April 2019, the U.S. removed sanctions against former SEBIN chief Manuel Cristopher Figuera, who broke ranks with Maduro, to demonstrate that sanctions could be removed from those who help "restore democratic order" in Venezuela. The U.S. sanctioned two former Venezuelan government officials, Luis Alfredo Motta Domínguez and Eustiquio Jose Lugo Gomez, on 27 June alleging they were engaging in significant corruption and fraud. President Maduro's son, Nicolás Maduro Guerra, was sanctioned on 28 June 2019 as a member of Venezuela's Constituent Assembly. The U.S. Treasury Department accused him of maintaining a stranglehold on the economy and suppressing the people of Venezuela. Following the June death while in custody of Venezuelan navy captain Rafael Acosta Arévalo, the U.S. sanctioned Dirección General de Contrainteligencia Militar (DGCIM) on 11 July 2019, accusing the defense agency of being responsible for his death. On 19 July 2019, Mike Pence announced new sanctions on DGCIM officials who he held responsible for repressing and torturing Venezuelans, stating that the United Nations had reported nearly 7,000 "killings by [the] Maduro regime in the last 18 months". Five politicians and security officials, who had earlier been sanctioned by the E.U. or Canada, were added to the U.S. sanctions list on 5 November 2019 for alleged corruption and violence during opposition protests. 2020 The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned seven individuals for their involvement in the disputed January 2020 Venezuelan National Assembly Delegated Committee election that resulted in two claims for the Presidency of the National Assembly: one by legislator Luis Parra, later supported by Maduro, and one by the incumbent Juan Guaidó. According to U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, the U.S. blacklisted the Venezuelan lawmakers "who, at the bidding of Maduro, attempted to block the democratic process in Venezuela". Those sanctioned in addition to Parra included Franklyn Duarte, José Gregorio Noriega, , José Brito, , . On 22 September 2020, the U.S. Treasury described five sanctioned individuals as supporting, manipulating and rigging the upcoming 2020 Venezuelan parliamentary elections: Miguel Ponente, Guillermo Luces, José Bernabé Gutiérrez, Chaim Bucaran and Williams Benavides. The company Ex-Cle Soluciones Biometricas CA, and individuals associated with, were sanctioned on 18 December for providing services for the 2020 parliamentary election, which the U.S. alleges were fraudulent; Maduro responded that the sanctions were "stupid" and that a third of eligible voters had participated. OFAC sanctioned the president and board chairman, Didier Casimiro, of Rosneft on 18 February 2020, for supporting Maduro's government by operating in the oil sector. On 26 March 2020, the U.S. State Department offered a $15 million reward on Nicolás Maduro, and $10 million each on Diosdado Cabello, Hugo Carvajal, Clíver Alcalá Cordones and Tareck El Aissami, for information to bring those individuals to justice for alleged drug trafficking and narco-terrorism. Two friends of Maduro and his son, Nicolas Ernesto Maduro Guerra, were sanctioned on 23 July 2020 for their alleged role in a "financial mechanism of an illicit gold scheme", according to Reuters. 2022–2024: sanctions relief , head of CNE, Venezuelan's electoral body, and former Comptroller General After Joe Biden took office, his administration reviewed existing sanctions and in 2022 lowered some of the restrictions in the petroleum sector. Chevron Corporation, which had existing investments in Venezuela, was allowed to increase production for sales to the U.S. As of November 2022, the Biden administration had not imposed any new sanctions on Venezuela and the Associated Press reported that some companies could be flouting the sanctions imposed by the Trump administration. Crude oil exports by July 2023, driven by Chevron and other new agreements allowed under sanctions, rose to their highest level in over three years. Countries like Cuba, China and Iran continued trading with Venezuela, and China become the main source of Venezuela's petroleum revenue in 2023. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated Maduro would have another month to remove bans on candidates for the 2024 presidential election. On 17 April 2024, the U.S. announced that some of these sanctions would be reinstated because the Barbados Agreement had not been fully honored and the leading opposition candidate María Corina Machado had not been allowed to run in presidential elections. Waivers to operate in spite of the sanctions were extended to companies with existing oil and gas assets and production in Venezuela; in addition to Chevron, these included Spain's Repsol, Italy's Eni, France's Maurel & Prom, with as many as 50 licenses being reviewed as of May 2024. Sources told Reuters that India's Reliance Industries and Jindal Steel and Power were also granted waivers after sanctions were reimposed. After sanctions relief, Spain's 2024 imports through July of Venezuelan petroleum tripled from those of the same period in 2023. On 12 September 16 individuals associated with Maduro and the subsequent repression were sanctioned by the U.S., referencing Maduro's "fraudulent and illegitimate claims of victory and his brutal crackdown on free expression following the election". Among the sanctioned were five members of the TSJ, the lower-court judge who issued a warrant for the arrest of opposition candidate Edmundo González, the CNE, and "military and intelligence officials accused of post-election repression", along with "visa restrictions on an unspecified number" of others. along with the vice-president of the TSJ and others; military prosecutor ; Edward Miguel Briceño Cisneros and Luis Ernesto Dueñez Reyes, the judge and prosecutor responsible for the arrest warrant against González; and military figures including from the National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela. Venezuela's Foreign Minister Yvan Gil called the sanctions a "crime of aggression ... illegitimate and illegal". Those sanctioned were "security and cabinet-level officials" alleged by the U.S. to have "carried out Maduro's orders to repress civil society in his efforts to fraudulently declare himself the winner" of the election. 2025 Following the disputed July 2024 Venezuelan presidential election, Maduro was inaugurated for a third term as president on 10 January 2025; that day, the U.S., E.U., U.K. and Canada placed new sanctions on Venezuelan individuals. U.S. Secretary of State Blinken stated that the U.S. "does not recognize Nicolas Maduro as the president of Venezuela" and a U.S. Treasury Under Secretary, Bradley Smith, added that the U.S. stood with its "likeminded partners" in "solidarity with the people's vote for new leadership and rejects Maduro's fraudulent claim of victory". The following month, six more alleged leaders and "key members" of the gang (Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, Yohan Jose Romero, Josue Angel Santana Pena, Wilmer Jose Perez Castillo, Wendy Marbelys Rios Gomez, and Felix Anner Castillo Rondon) were sanctioned. In December 2025, the reward for Mosquera was raised to $5 million. Along with Jimena Romina Araya Navarro (a.k.a. "Rosita"), OFAC sanctioned her manager, Eryk Manuel Landaeta Hernandez, and Kenffersso Jhosue Sevilla Arteaga, Richard Jose Espinal Quintero, Noe Manases Aponte Cordova, Asdrubal Rafael Escobar Cabrera, Cheison Royer Guerrero Palma, and associated businesses, Maiquetia VIP Bar Restaurant, Global Import Solutions S.A., Eryk Producciones SAS, and Yakera y Lane SAS. According to the Miami Herald, the sanctions aim to reverse loosening of sanctions under the Biden administration, which failed to help achieve a fair presidential election in 2024, and to "disrupt what the [U.S. Treasury] described as a persistent web of corruption, narcotrafficking and sanctions evasions that continues to sustain Maduro's 'illegitimate' government". Sanctioned were six companies and six vessels associated with those companies that had recently transported Venezuelan crude. The U.S. alleged that the six supertankers (and associated companies) are part of a shadow fleet that uses techniques to avoid transmitting their location Ramón Carretero Napolitano, a Panamanian businessman who the U.S. alleges has profited from business ventures with relatives of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, to sell Venezuelan oil, was also sanctioned. and other anonymous sources, that Carretero was "one of the largest traders of Venezuelan oil" and the "main person managing the flow of oil between Cuba and Venezuela". Three nephews of Flores sanctioned on 11 December are cousins Efraín Antonio Campo Flores and Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas, and Carlos Erik Malpica Flores. Jose Jesus Urdaneta Gonzalez and the Venezuelan company he chairs, Empresa Aeronautica Nacional SA, were sanctioned on 30 December for trade with Iran of drones. On 31 December, four oil tankers and the Chinese companies that own them were sanctioned. The ships (and the owner/operators) are: Nord Star (Corniola Limited, and Krape Myrtle Co LTD); Rosalind, also named Lunar TID (Winky International Limited); and Della and Valiant (Aries Global Investment). 2026 On 3 January, in Operation Absolute Resolve, then-Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro was captured by U.S. forces and extradited to the United States for trial. Following the operation, with his successor Delcy Rodriguez cooperating with the U.S. to manage the transition, the U.S. Department of Treasury granted Venezuela general licenses to restore the country's oil production and promote its economic growth. == On industries ==

Trump issued EO 13850 on 1 November 2018 to block the assets of anyone involved in alleged corruption in the gold sector, or "any other sector of the economy as determined in the future by the Secretary of the Treasury". The White House saw the measures as a way to "protect the United States financial system from complicity in Venezuela's corruption and in the impoverishment of the Venezuelan people" without disallowing humanitarian aid The U.S. imposed additional sanctions on PDVSA on 28 January 2019 to pressure Maduro to resign during the 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis. The sanctions prevented PDVSA from being paid for petroleum exports to the U.S., froze $7 billion of PDVSA's U.S. assets and prevented U.S. firms from exporting naphtha to Venezuela. Bolton estimated the expected loss to the Venezuelan economy at more than $11 billion in 2019. In February 2019, Maduro ordered PDVSA to move its European office to Moscow to protect its overseas assets from U.S. sanctions. Exports of Venezuela's heavy crude oil depend on diluents that were imported from the U.S. before sanctions; Rosneft chartered a ship to load thinners from Malta and deliver them to Venezuela on 22 March, and arranged for Venezuelan crude oil to be processed in India. Other companies including India's Reliance Industries Limited, Spain's Repsol, and commodity trading companies Trafigura and Vitol continued to supply Venezuela's oil industry as of 11 April 2019. On 17 April, On 18 February 2020, OFAC sanctioned Rosneft Trading S.A. for supporting Maduro's government by operating in the oil sector. On 12 March 2020, a Swiss subsidiary of Rosneft, TNK Trading International S.A., was blacklisted for helping Rosneft evade sanctions; U.S. Treasury stated that TNK bought 14 million barrels of Venezuelan crude in one month. The Venezuelan National Assembly had been looking at ways to access Venezuela's overseas cash and facilities. PDVSA's US subsidiary Citgo announced in February 2019 that it would formally cut ties with PDVSA to comply with U.S. sanctions on Venezuela, and halted payments to PDVSA. Guaidó and the National Assembly appointed a new Citgo board of directors under Chairperson Luisa Palacios, Although control of PDVSA assets in Venezuela remained with Maduro, Guaidó named a new PDVSA board. With Citgo under the control of Guaidó's administration, the U.S. Treasury Department extended its license to operate in spite of sanctions. Stating it was a "sign of the growing dependence of Venezuela's cash-strapped government on Russia", Reuters reported on 18 April 2019 that the Maduro administration was bypassing sanctions by funneling cash from petroleum sales through Russia's Rosneft. Reliance denied reports that it was in violation of U.S. sanctions and stated that its purchases of Venezuelan oil through Rosneft were approved by the U.S. State Department. April oil exports were steady at a million barrels daily, "partially due to inventory drains", with most shipments to buyers from India and China. Even with sanctions, shipments to Cuba were unchanged. Cuban oil shipments The U.S. Treasury sanctioned two companies on 5 April 2019 that had shipped Venezuelan oil to Cuba, alleging that Cuban personnel and advisors helped the Maduro government maintain power; the companies were Liberia-based Ballito Bay Shipping Inc., the owner of the Despina Andrianna, and the Greek company ProPer In Management Inc., the operator of the vessel that was used for an oil shipment to Cuba. Another 34 ships owned by PDVSA were added to the sanction list. The U.S. sanctioned nine ships and four more shipping companies on 12 April 2019: Liberian companies Jennifer Navigation Ltd., Large Range Ltd. and Lima Shipping Corp.; and Italian PB Tankers. An unnamed U.S. senior official told Bloomberg that these companies and vessels accounted for as much as half of the 50,000 barrels daily of oil that "Venezuela sends to Cuba in exchange for the social, intelligence and strategic support Havana provides Maduro". Cuba denies any influence on Venezuela's military and—along with Russia, China, Turkey and Iran—is determined to defend Maduro according to Bloomberg. Sanctions on PB Tankers S.P.A. were lifted in July 2019, and on Lima Shipping Corporation A company based in Cyprus (Caroil Transport Marine Ltd) and three Panamanian companies (Trocana World Inc, Tovase Development Corp and Bluelane Overseas SA) were sanctioned, along with four ships owned by those companies. Petrocaribe Through Petrocaribe, a regional oil procurement agreement between Venezuela and Caribbean member states, Caribbean countries including Haiti and Jamaica had been able to finance 40% of their Venezuelan crude oil purchases over 25 years at 1% interest and Cuba received free oil in exchange for medical services. Reuters said, "The Caribbean region has long relied on oil and gas from Venezuela, which offered cheap financing through a program called Petrocaribe, though shipments have declined in recent years because of production problems at Venezuela's state-owned oil company PDVSA." Several leaders of Caribbean countries supporting Maduro criticized the US sanctions, saying their support for Maduro was based on principles, not oil, and that sanctions were affecting their countries' supply, debt payments, and the region's stability. Trump promised more investment to the countries supporting Guaidó (Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica and Saint Lucia), although "the White House did not specifically tie the carrot of investment to that support". Gold Venezuela's third-largest export (after crude oil and refined petroleum products) in 2019 was gold. In mid-February 2019, National Assembly legislator Angel Alvarado said that about eight tons of gold had been taken from the vault while the head of the Central Bank was abroad. In March, Ugandan investigators reported that 7.4 tonnes of gold worth over US$300 million could have been smuggled into that country. The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Minerven, Venezuela's state-run mining company, in March 2019. According to Bloomberg, the Central Bank sold 9.5 tonnes of gold on 10 May and 3 more tonnes some days later. Reuters estimated in March 2020 that there were about 90 tonnes of gold left in the country, compared to 129 tonnes at the start of 2019. Between 2013 and 2016, Venezuela shipped US$5.2 billion worth of gold to Switzerland. Banking and finance Trump signed an order on 19 March 2018 that prohibited people in the US from making any type of transaction with digital currency emitted by or in the name of the government of Venezuela as of 9 January 2018, referencing the Petro token. He said the crypto-currency had been designed in February 2018 to "circumvent US sanctions" and access international financing. On 11 March 2019, the U.S. sanctioned the Russian bank Evrofinance Mosnarbank, a joint venture of Russian and Venezuelan state-owned companies. The U.S. Treasury Department said the Moscow-based bank was an economic lifeline for Maduro's administration. After the detention of Guaidó's chief of staff, Roberto Marrero, in March 2019, the US Treasury Department responded by placing sanctions on the Venezuelan bank BANDES and its subsidiaries. Univision stated this action "put 'the entire banking sector' on notice" that Venezuelan financial transactions could be sanctioned. China Development Bank had paid billions of dollars through BANDES to the Venezuelan government in exchange for crude oil as of March 2019; the sanctions would make it difficult for Venezuela to restructure its US$20 billion debt with China. U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said that BANDES had become a way for Maduro administration "insiders" to "move funds abroad in an attempt to prop up Maduro", circumventing the purpose of the bank to help the Venezuelan people. The U.S. Treasury added sanctions to the Central Bank of Venezuela on 17 April 2019. The Venezuelan banking sanctions caused a rippled effect in that the New York Federal Reserve decided to restrict opening of new accounts in Puerto Rico's offshore banking industry, and planned tighter restrictions in that area. CLAP food subsidy program , with the supplier receiving government funds owned by President Maduro On 25 July 2019, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned 13 companies (from Colombia, Hong Kong (China), Mexico, Panama, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the U.S.) involved in a Venezuelan food subsidy program called CLAP, along with 10 people including Maduro's stepsons and Colombian businessman Alex Saab. Saab sold food to Venezuela for more than USD 200 million in a negotiation signed by Maduro through a company registered in Hong Kong. On 23 August 2017, the Venezuelan attorney general, Luisa Ortega Díaz, had named Saab as the owner of the Mexican firm Group Grand Limited, along with Colombian businessmen Álvaro Pulido and Rodolfo Reyes, and "presumably President Nicolás Maduro" that sold food to the CLAP. According to Mnuchin, corruption in the "CLAP program has allowed Maduro and his family members to steal from the Venezuelan people" by using "food as a form of social control, to reward political supporters and punish opponents, all the while pocketing hundreds of millions of dollars through a number of fraudulent schemes." Saab and another Colombian businessman were charged in the U.S. with money laundering related to a 2011–2015 scheme to pay bribes to take advantage of Venezuela's government-set exchange rate. After a multilateral meeting between over a dozen European and Latin American countries, U.S. Treasury Department officials had stated in April 2018 that they had collaborated with Colombian officials to investigate corrupt import programs of the Maduro administration including CLAP. They stated that Venezuelan officials pocketed 70% of the proceeds allocated for importation programs destined to alleviate hunger in Venezuela. Treasury officials said they sought to seize the proceeds that were being funneled into the accounts of Venezuelan officials and hold them for a future government in Venezuela. An April 2019 communication from the U.S. State Department highlighted the 2017 National Assembly investigation finding that the government paid US$42 for food boxes that cost under US$13, and that "Maduro's inner circle kept the difference, which totaled more than $200 million dollars in at least one case", adding that food boxes were "distributed in exchange for votes". On 17 September 2019, the U.S. Treasury Department expanded further sanctions on 16 entities (from Colombia, Italy and Panama) and 3 individuals, accusing them of helping the Venezuelan government profit from food import and distribution. Airline and aircraft The U.S. sanctioned 15 PDVSA aircraft on 21 January 2020, stating that they had "been involved in the harassment of U.S. military flights in Caribbean airspace", and had been used to provide transport to sanctioned individuals. Venezuela's state airline Conviasa (Consorcio Venezolano de Industrias Aeronáuticas y Servicios Aéreos) was blocked under Executive Order 13884 of 5 August 2019 that applied generally to property of the Government of Venezuela, but OFAC explicitly identified it and its fleet of 40 aircraft on the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list on 7 February 2020 to assure compliance. The Biden Administration began relaxing sanctions on Conviasa in October 2023 under General License 45 for the purpose of deporting Venezuelan nationals from the U.S. General License 45A, issued in November 2023, further eased restrictions on Conviasa, allowing for maintenance of certain Embraer aircraft and was replaced by General License 45B on 29 February 2024, to allow for Venezuelans from non-U.S. jurisdictions to be repatriated. In November 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security named three companies that it said had circumvented sanctions by smuggling U.S. aviation parts to Venezuela. With the relaxing of restrictions under the Biden Administration, 55 aircraft registered in Venezuela remain sanctioned as of November 2023. Merrick Garland, the U.S. Attorney General, alleged that the purchase of the plane violated U.S. sanctions, stating that it "was illegally purchased for $13 million through a shell company and smuggled out of the United States for use by Nicolás Maduro and his cronies". Maduro called the seizure a "criminal practice" and "piracy". == Evasion ==

Minister of Industries and National Production Tareck El Aissami announced in October 2018 in response to U.S. sanctions that all foreign exchange government auctions would be quoted in euros, Chinese yuan and other hard currencies instead of U.S. dollars. He said the government would open bank accounts in Europe and Asia as potential workarounds to financial sanctions and that Venezuela's banking sector would be able to participate in currency auctions three times a week, adding that the government would sell some 2 billion euros amid a rebound in oil prices. Some ships' captains and owners sympathetic to Venezuela turned off their transponder locations to avoid the U.S. sanctions and deliver oil to Russia, China, and India, creating an environmental risk of ship collisions. As of 2020, Mexico defied the U.S. sanctions by allowing fuel shipments, and in spite of sanctions on both Iran and Venezuela, Iran sent five oil tankers to Venezuela. Venezuela continued to send money In April 2022, it sent fuel oil and diesel to Cuba, and paid Saint Vincent and the Grenadines' debt with Petrocaribe, estimated to have been around $189 million. In August 2023, Petróleos de Venezuela increased fuel shipments to Cuba, from 53,000 barrels per day of petroleum products to 65,000 barrels. Following an investigation by the F.B.I. of trading involving Mexican companies, in January 2021, the U.S. sanctioned a network comprising three people, fourteen companies and six ships for evading sanctions on Venezuelan petroleum products; the individuals, shipping crude mainly to Asia, were Alessandro Bazzoni, Francisco D'Agostino and Philipp Apikian; the companies were Elemento Ltd and Swissoil Trading SA, and other companies owned by the three individuals. Maduro government officials called the sanctions a "new, desperate aggression" by Trump, and stated that the "revolutionary government [was] still standing today". The companies received at least 30 million barrels of crude. A Libre Abordo spokesperson told Reuters they were exchanging crude for humanitarian aid and should not have been sanctioned; Reuters reported the food in exchange for crude was never delivered. Arreaza stated that the U.S. wanted to see that the "Venezuelan people are left without food, medicine or gasoline". == See also ==