WASHINGTON: The Trump administration has frozen all Venezuelan government assets in a dramatic escalation of tensions with socialist leader Nicolás Maduro, who has stubbornly clung to power in the face of mounting international pressure.
The ban on Americans doing business with Venezuela’s government takes effect immediately. An executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Monday justified the move by citing Maduro’s continued “usurpation” of power and human rights abuses by groups loyal to him.
While the order falls short of an outright trade embargo, it represents the most determined US action to remove Maduro since the Trump administration recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s rightful leader in January. As such, it places Venezuela on par with adversaries such as Cuba, Syria, Iran and North Korea, who have also come under strident US measures.
Previous sanctions have targeted dozens of Venezuelan government insiders as well as the South American nation’s oil industry, the source of almost all of its export earnings.
As part of the executive order, Americans will be banned from engaging in transactions with anyone determined to be assisting Maduro or his government. The same Maduro supporters will also be banned from entering the US
Exceptions will be allowed for the delivery of food, medicine and clothing. Transactions with Venezuela’s still sizable private sector do not appear to be affected either.
The executive order comes the day before Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton and US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross represent the United States at the International Conference for Democracy in Venezuela.
The conference is being attended by representatives from more than 50 nations that recognize Guaidó as Venezuela’s president and consider Maduro’s re-election last year to be fraudulent.
Moments after the executive order was announced, Bolton tweeted that he was looking ahead to what he hopes will be a “productive” day in Lima.
Trump freezes Venezuela gov’t assets in escalation
Trump freezes Venezuela gov’t assets in escalation
- Moments after the executive order was announced, Bolton tweeted that he was looking ahead to what he hopes will be a “productive” day in Lima
Bangladesh’s religio-political party open to unity govt
- Opinion polls suggest that Jamaat-e-Islami will finish a close second to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in the first election it has contested in nearly 17 years
DHAKA: A once-banned Bangladeshi religio-political party, poised for its strongest electoral showing in February’s parliamentary vote, is open to joining a unity government and has held talks with several parties, its chief said.
Opinion polls suggest that Jamaat-e-Islami will finish a close second to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in the first election it has contested in nearly 17 years as it marks a return to mainstream politics in the predominantly Muslim nation of 175 million.
Jamaat last held power between 2001 and 2006 as a junior coalition partner with the BNP and is open to working with it again.
“We want to see a stable nation for at least five years. If the parties come together, we’ll run the government together,” Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman said in an interview at his office in a residential area in Dhaka, days after the party created a buzz by securing a tie-up with a Gen-Z party.
Rahman said anti-corruption must be a shared agenda for any unity government.
The prime minister will come from the party winning the most seats in the Feb. 12 election, he added. If Jamaat wins the most seats, the party will decide whether he himself would be a candidate, Rahman said.
The party’s resurgence follows the ousting of long-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a youth-led uprising in August 2024.
Rahman said Hasina’s continued stay in India after fleeing Dhaka was a concern, as ties between the two countries have hit their lowest point in decades since her downfall.
Asked about Jamaat’s historical closeness to Pakistan, Rahman said: “We maintain relations in a balanced way with all.”
He said any government that includes Jamaat would “not feel comfortable” with President Mohammed Shahabuddin, who was elected unopposed with the Awami League’s backing in 2023.
