Obama Should Sanction More Venezuelan Officials - US Congresswoman

The US government should continue imposing sanctions against Venezuelan officials who are responsible for imprisoning and killing opponents of the country’s regime, US Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said in a press release.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — On March 9, 2015, President Barack Obama issued an executive order imposing new sanctions against seven Venezuelan officials, freezing their assets and banning them from entering the United States.

“I call on President Obama to add more names to the list of those sanctioned under the Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Act of 2014,” Ros-Lehtinen said on Thursday.

Obama described the alleged erosion of human rights in Venezuela as an unusual and extraordinary threat to US security.

Sixteen members of Congress called on Obama in mid-May to stop the sanctions he had imposed on Venezuelan officials.

“The Administration must aid the people of Venezuela, not refrain from imposing further sanctions against human rights violators,” Ros-Lehtinen added.

During the seventh Summit of the Americas in April 2015, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro demanded that Washington withdraws the sanctions order. Maduro said he brought 11 million signatures collected worldwide in opposition to Obama’s order.