Black gold, black list
US sanctions companies and individuals involved in trading Venezuelan crude.
By Marc Allen, Maritime Direct UK.
The United States has imposed indirect sanctions on Venezuela by targeting vessels, firms, and individuals it sees as having helped Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA trade the South American nation’s crude oil.
Outgoing US Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, said in a news release: “Those facilitating the illegitimate Maduro regime’s attempts to circumvent United States sanctions contribute to the corruption that consumes Venezuela.”
He said the new sanctions seek to curtail the activities of Alessandro Bazzoni, Francisco Javier D’Agostino Casado, Phillip Paul Vartan Apikian, Elemento Ltd., and Swissoil Trading SA.
The statement also named Tareck El Aissami and indicted money launderer, Alex Nain Saab Moran. Six vessels were also singled out.
Sanctions were first imposed on PDVSA in 2019, cutting Venezuela off from its main customer, the US. Since then, the beleaguered Maduro government has sought other outlets for the county’s main export and Iran, Russia, Cuba and China have moved ever closer to the near-failed state.
