US slaps sanctions on key Venezuelan bank BANDES and others over support for President Nicolas Maduro
- Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says ‘Maduro and his enablers have distorted the original purpose of the bank’
The United States on Friday slapped sanctions on a key Venezuelan bank, BANDES and four affiliates over their support for President Nicolas Maduro.
The US move came just hours after Maduro’s regime defied the United States and arrested a top aide of opposition leader Juan Guaido, whom Washington recognises as the crisis-hit country’s interim leader.
Venezuelan Interior Minister Nestor Reverol accused the aide, Roberto Marrero, a 49-year-old lawyer who serves as Guaido’s chief of staff, of leading a “terrorist cell” bent on attacking the government’s leadership.
The companies sanctioned are BANDES, a state-controlled bank; Banco Bandes Uruguay; Banco Bicentenario del Pueblos; Banco Universal SA Banco de Venezuela; and Banco Prodem SA, of Bolivia.
“All property and interests in property of these entities, and of any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 per cent or more by this entity, that are in the United States or in the possession or control of US persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC,” the Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) statement said.
“Maduro and his enablers have distorted the original purpose of the bank, which was founded to help the economic and social well-being of the Venezuelan people, as part of a desperate attempt to hold onto power,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.