On January 10, 2025, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated and placed eight Venezuelan officials on the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List for “enabling Nicolas Maduro’s repression and subversion of democracy in Venezuela.” The individuals sanctioned include the president of Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A., (PdVSA), Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, and Maduro’s Minister of Transportation and president of the Venezuelan Consortium of Aeronautical Industries and Air Services (CONVIASA), the state-owned airline. In addition, OFAC has sanctioned various other Venezuelan officials in the military and police “who lead entities with roles in carrying out Maduro’s repression and human rights abuses against democratic actors.” In a press release, OFAC stated that these sanctions came about despite the United States and its allies pushing Maduro since the Venezuelan presidential elections on July 28, 2024, to commit to a democratic transition. Instead, OFAC noted that “Maduro and his representatives have continued their violent repression in an attempt to maintain power, and have ignored the Venezuelan people’s calls from for democratic accountability.”
For identifying information on these individuals, see OFAC’s press release. As a result of these OFAC actions, all property and interests in property of the designated persons that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50% or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons. These prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any blocked person and the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.