The U.S. imposes a total freeze on Venezuelan government assets

7 Aug 2019

image depicting News update - 7 January 2021

The U.S. imposes a total freeze on Venezuelan government assets

The U.S. imposes a total freeze on Venezuelan government assetsUS President Donald Trump has put a freeze* on all Venezuelan government assets in the United States this week.

Mr Trump new executive order makes the new sanctions stronger than the previous ones. Previously, the US had imposed sanctions against Venezuela's government-run oil company PDVSA as well as against many Venezuelan officials.

This latest step aims to pressure the current Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down. Previous sanctions had failed to make an impact on the situation.

Venezuela is not happy with the new sanctions. It feels that the new sanctions may have a worse effect on the common people.

What is the background of the Venezuela crises?

The current Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro became President since 2013.
 	But during his time in office, Venezuela's economy collapsed.
 	In 2018, he was re-elected. However, the elections were believed to have been biased and unfair.
 	In response, the opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president in January 2019.
 	Over 50 countries, including the US, have recognised Mr Guaido as the legitimate President, while China, Russia and some other countries are supporting Mr Maduro.

You can read about the political turmoil in Venezuela in more detail here.

*Freeze: In this context, a 'freeze' means all property/money of the Government of Venezuela that are in the US have been blocked from being transferred, sold, withdrawn, etc. The Venezuelan government cannot use any of it.

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US President Donald Trump has put a freeze* on all Venezuelan government assets in the United States this week. Mr Trump new executive order makes […]

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