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US Sanctions Russian Oil Trading Firm for Role in Venezuela

Associated Press

   WASHINGTON - The Trump administration announced sanctions Tuesday on a
   Russian state-controlled brokerage that has helped the Venezuelan
   government skirt an American oil embargo and enabled President Nicolas
   Maduro keep his grip on power in the South American country.

   Administration officials said Rosneft Trading S.A. and its president,
   Didier Casimiro, would be added to a financial blacklist in a move that
   is expected to largely freeze him and the company out of the global
   financial system.

   The action is an unusually strong move against a company linked to the
   Russian state and amounts to a substantial escalation of a U.S.-led
   campaign that has failed to oust Maduro from power.

   Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Rosneft Trading is the primary
   broker for the sale and transportation of Venezuelan crude oil.

   "Rosneft Trading has propped up the dictatorial Maduro, enabling his
   repression of the Venezuelan people," he said in announcing the
   sanctions.

   Rosneft Trading is incorporated in Switzerland and Russian-owned,
   according to the State Department. The parent company did not
   immediately respond to a request for comment.

   But Russian lawmaker Pavel Zavalny said the country would continue to
   cooperate with Venezuela in the energy sector despite the U.S.
   sanctions. "One doesn't abandon friends in need," Zavalny said.

   The U.S. and about 60 other countries say Maduro's reelection in 2018
   was not legitimate and have recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as
   interim president.

   The U.S. is considering additional economic sanctions aimed at further
   tightening economic pressure on the Maduro government, the special U.S.
   envoy for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, told reporters.

   Maduro has held on to power despite runaway hyperinflation, a massive
   exodus and shortages of food and medicine and the international
   pressure that has left his socialist administration isolated.

   Venezuela managed to ship hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil last
   year with the help of Rosneft Trading despite sanctions on its
   petroleum sector imposed by the Trump administration last year.

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