New US sanctions target Venezuela-Cuba oil exports

The US on Friday slapped sanctions on two companies that operate within Venezuela's oil sector and export the commodity to Cuba.

In a statement, the US Treasury said it was targeting Liberia-based Ballito Bay Shipping Incorporated and Greece-based ProPer In Management Incorporated. The former is the registered owner of crude oil tanker Despina Andrianna and the latter the operator, it said.

US authorities have also identified 34 vessels as blocked property of Venezuela's state-oil giant PDVSA.

US Treasury secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said: "Cuba has been an underlying force fueling Venezuela's descent into crisis. Treasury is taking action against vessels and entities transporting oil, providing a lifeline to keep the illegitimate Maduro regime afloat.

"Cuba continues to profit from, and prop up, the illegitimate Maduro regime through oil-for-repression schemes as they attempt to keep Maduro in power. The United States remains committed to a transition to democracy in Venezuela and to holding the Cuban regime accountable for its direct involvement in Venezuela's demise."

The sanctions are the latest of many measures to pile pressure on the regime of Nicolás Maduro and force fresh elections. Barack Obama issued the first executive order on the current regime while serving as president in 2015, targeting those accused of the likes of human rights violations.

Juan Guaidó - who has the backing of the US and around 50 other nations - has declared himself interim president on the basis that Maduro's second-term election victory last May was fraudulent.

The Maduro regime has claimed the US is trying to destabilize the country and get its hands on its oil.

IMPLICATIONS

The Treasury statement said: "As a result of today's action, all property and interests in property of these entities, and of any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by the designated entities, that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC [Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control. OFAC's regulations generally prohibit all dealings by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of blocked or designated persons."

Read the Treasury statement

In related news, the World Bank is working on a social aid package for Venezuela that will be rolled out "when the conditions are right," Spanish state news agency EFE reported, citing the World Bank's chief economist for the region, Carlos Végh.

Végh said key to restoring the country's economic health was introducing a fixed exchange rate that links Venezuela's currency to the US dollar, and boosting oil output.

Venezuela is grappling with hyperinflation, acute shortages of food and medicine, and a massive exodus of its citizens to neighboring countries.