Many countries and organizations imposed sanctions on the Venezuelan government during the crisis in Venezuela. The governments of the United States, the European Union, Canada, Mexico, Panama and Switzerland imposed individual sanctions against people associated with the Nicolás Maduro administration. Individual sanctions applied to Venezuela have increased significantly over the past 3 years.
Venezuela: Overview of US Sanctions
The history of tension between the USA and Venezuela goes back many years. Since 2005, the United States has thought that Venezuela is not enough to tackle drug trafficking, money laundering and financing of terrorism. The United States has imposed sanctions targeting the Venezuelan government since 2015. These sanctions include prohibitions such as freezing of individuals' assets, the prohibition of transactions, the capture of assets, and arms embargo. In addition, the US imposed additional economic sanctions on Venezuela in the petrol, gold, mining, food and banking sectors.
The USA targeted PDVSA with sanctions in January 2019. PDVSA is a Venezuelan state oil and gas company. The company is responsible for oil and natural gas exploration, production, treatment and export. As a result of sanctions against PdVSA, oil production in Venezuela fell from about 2.4 million barrels a day to about 1 million barrels a day.
By 2020, tensions still remain between America and Venezuela. The last sanction of the USA targeting the Maduro regime took place on January 13, 2020. The U.S. froze the assets of 7 Venezuelan lawmakers in the United States and banned them from doing business with U.S. companies. The US aims to resign Maduro with these sanctions and embargoes.
Venezuela: Overview of EU Sanctions
European Union sanctions against the Venezuelan regime are more limited. The European Union has frozen the assets of 18 people associated with the Maduro regime and has banned them from traveling. In addition, the European Union has implemented an arms and equipment embargo against the Venezuelan government.
