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U.S. Sanctions Venezuelan President Maduro After ‘Sham’ Vote

In this photo released by the Venezuelan government, President Nicolás Maduro shows his ballot Sunday after casting a vote for a constitutional assembly in Caracas.
Miraflores press office via AP

The Trump administration froze assets, banned travel and prohibited business transactions Monday for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, accusing him of undermining democracy after he carried out an election Sunday for an all-powerful new legislative assembly in defiance of warnings from the U.S. and international community.

As part of what are expected to be a series of escalating sanctions, the Treasury Department added Maduro to its growing list of sanctioned current and former members of the Venezuelan government and military. 

The U.S. has yet to settle on steeper economic sanctions President Donald Trump threatened ahead of Sunday’s Venezuelan election for a new constituent assembly with the power to dissolve the opposition-held parliament, effectively wiping out the remnants of Venezuela’s democracy. On Sunday, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley called the vote a “sham election.”

Read the rest of the story from our news partner The Miami Herald.

 

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PATRICIA MAZZEI
Franco Ordoñez is a White House Correspondent for NPR's Washington Desk. Before he came to NPR in 2019, Ordoñez covered the White House for McClatchy. He has also written about diplomatic affairs, foreign policy and immigration, and has been a correspondent in Cuba, Colombia, Mexico and Haiti.