The law will terminate oil licenses to ensure that American and European companies can no longer finance the Maduro regime, and accelerate the South American country’s democratic transition
The statement was published on the Treasury Department’s website after Washington officials and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro met in Caracas in March. They discussed removing Carlos Malpica Flores, a former PDVSA oil executive from the sanctions list.
From late November through early January, PDVSA shipped at least 197,000 barrels of gasoline to Cuba’s Nuevitas, Matanzas and Havana ports
In exchange for helping the Venezuelan government, Rivera’s consulting group Interamerican Consulting allegedly received $50 million in payments between March and April 2017 from the U.S. branch of the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA
In addition to El Aissami, Simón Alejandro Zerpa and businessman Samark José López were also arrested, after purported admissions from of at least five witnesses interviewed by the Public Ministry
Leopoldo López rejected the accusations of the regime's attorney general, Tarek William Saab, and accused him of also participating in “conversations” to remove Maduro from power
The arrests come as the Venezuelan regime has been investigating irregularities and alleged corruption cases in different branches of government connected to “strategic sectors”
On Monday, Venezuela’s National Anti-Corruption Police arrested a mayor, two judges, and three government officials as part of an investigation into public officials in the oil industry, the justice system, and municipalities
Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro is accused of failing to fulfill his electoral commitments with the disqualification of the opposition candidate María Corina Machado
The 53-year-old man, identified as José Manuel González Testino, allegedly killed his 3-year-old son in his home