US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin spoke to the press about US President Donald Trump’s executive order to impose sanctions on Venezuela, in Washington DC, Friday.
Mnuchin presented the executive order as demonstrating “the U.S. government’s condemnation of tyranny and dictatorship in Venezuela.” He went on to say, “Nicolas Maduro has financed his regime by hollowing out Venezuela through economic mismanagement, corruption, and the assumption of onerous debt.”
“Today’s action is focused on restricting the regime’s access to American debt and equity markets. Maduro may no longer take advantage of the American financial system to facilitate the wholesale looting of the Venezuelan economy at the expense of the Venezuelan people,” he added.
White House announced fresh financial sanctions on the oil-rich nation, Friday, leading to an increase in tensions between the two countries. The sanctions prohibit financial institutions from providing new money to the Venezuelan government or state oil company PDVSA.
Trump recently said he would not rule out military intervention in Venezuela after Maduro introduced a controversial new Constituent Assembly last month.