20 May, 2017
Six weeks of anti-government unrest in Venezuela have resulted in at least 44 deaths, as well as hundreds of injuries and arrests in the worst turmoil of President Nicolas Maduro's four-year rule.
Protesters are demanding elections to kick out the socialist government that they accuse of wrecking the economy and turning Venezuela into a dictatorship. The ruling was later partially reversed amid worldwide criticism, but it sparked a protest movement that has continued for almost two months and left more than 40 people dead.
In February, the Trump administration also slapped Venezuela's vice president with what are called kingpin sanctions, for his role in the alleged trafficking of illegal drugs. The high court is dominated by loyalists of President Nicolas Maduro.
"We haven't really seen a problem like that... in decades, in terms of the kind of violence that we're witnessing", Trump told a press conference with visiting Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos.
Today's actions freeze any assets they may have in the US, bar any American citizens from doing business with them, bar them from entering the USA and add their names to an official Office of Foreign Assets Control list that discourages foreign banks from doing business with them as well.
The action marked second time the Trump administration has stripped high-level Venezuelan officials of their USA assets and banned Americans from any business dealings with them.
"It has been unbelievably poorly run for a long period of time, and hopefully that will change and they could use those assets for the good and to take care of their people", he said. The Organization of Americas States will hold an emergency ministerial meeting on May 31 to address the crisis.
In Washington, the Trump administration is imposing sanctions on members of Venezuela's Supreme Court following a series of rulings that the USA says has usurped power from the nation's opposition-controlled Congress and sparked the unrest.
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio is praising the Trump administration's sanctions.
The State Prosecutor's Office said three National Guard sergeants would be charged later on Thursday for their "presumed responsibility" in Castellanos's killing.
Another sanctioned magistrate, Calixto Ortega, is a long-time diplomat who was sent by Maduro in 2014 to Aruba to negotiate the release of a retired army general who had been arrested by the Netherlands, which runs the Caribbean island's foreign affairs, on a US drug warrant.
Among those targeted is Maikel Moreno, the president of the pro-government Supreme Court, which issued a ruling in late March.
The new sanctions come as Maduro is facing increasing pressure at home and overseas to hold elections. Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles said Thursday authorities confiscated his passport and prevented him from travelling to NY to discuss his country's deadly political crisis with United Nations officials.
Venezuela's Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez took to Twitter to reject the US-imposed measures, calling them "outrageous and unacceptable". More than 2,000 people have been detained and hundreds injured during nearly daily protests.
This is not the first time the Trump administration has imposed sanctions on Venezuelan leaders.
