The U.S., the European Union and Canada applauded Venezuela's decision to soon begin negotiations in Mexico and hope the discussions help restore the country’s democracy and lead to fair elections. The U.S. and others have heavily sanctioned Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro regime but said in an Aug. 14 statement they are willing to “review sanctions policies if the regime makes meaningful progress in the announced talks.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Aug. 13 sanctioned an Omani businessman and his companies for aiding an international oil smuggling network that supports Iran. The agency also designated more Cuban government officials and a military unit for human rights violations.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control’s designations of five people last week (see 2108060043) targeted terrorism leaders in Africa, the State Department said Aug. 6. The sanctions targeted leaders with the Islamic State group, Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin and al-Shabaab.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Aug. 6 added five people to its Specially Designated Nationals List for counter-terrorism reasons. The people are: Abdikadir Mohamed Abdikadir, Salem ould Breihmatt, Sidan Ag Hitta, Bonomade Machude Omar and Ali Mohamed Rage. The people have connections to Somalia, Mozambique, Mauritania and Mali. OFAC didn’t immediately provide more information on the designations.
Australia plans to revise its sanctions laws to allow increased punishments for weapons proliferation, human rights violations, malicious cyber activity and corruption, Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said Aug. 5. The sanctions will “expand upon Australia’s current country-based autonomous sanctions framework,” Payne said, adding that Australia plans to introduce amendments to the Autonomous Sanctions Act 2011 to “achieve these important reforms” by the end of the year. “Once the types of conduct are established, Australia will have the ability to impose targeted financial sanctions and travel bans against individuals and entities determined to be involved in such sanctionable conduct wherever it occurs, without having to establish specific country-based regimes,” Payne said.
The World Bank recently published a new Global Suspension & Debarment Directory, detailing how 23 governments and jurisdictions use exclusion frameworks to penalize suppliers from procurement eligibility based on fraud, corruption, sanctions breaches or other violations of that country’s laws. The directory includes sections on the U.S., China, Canada, Germany, Australia and others.
The European Union added eight more names to its Nicaraguan sanctions regime Aug. 2, bringing the total number of sanctions individuals to 14. The eight, including Vice President Rosario Murillo, were added for undermining democracy or the rule of law. "The political situation in Nicaragua has further deteriorated in recent months," a European Council news release said. "The political use of the judicial system, the exclusion of candidates from the elections and the arbitrary delisting of opposition parties are contrary to basic democratic principles and constitute a serious violation of the rights of the Nicaraguan people. These actions further undermine the credibility of an electoral process, already hampered by an electoral reform that fell short of the recommendations of the OAS and EU Electoral Observation Missions." The other seven listed individuals are Gustavo Porras Cortes, Juan Valle Valle, Ana Guido Ochoa, Fidel Dominguez Alvarez, Alba Ramos Vanegas, Juan Carlos Ortega Murillo and Bayardo Arce Castano. The sanctions amount to an asset freeze and a travel ban.
The European Council removed the former deputy head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Sayed Shamsuddin Borborudi, from its Iran sanctions list and Libyan Gen. Khaled Tohami from its Libyan sanctions regime July 29. The council delisted both individuals following judgments from the European Union General Court to delete the listings.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned two Cuban police officials and a police agency for human rights violations stemming from the government’s recent violent crackdown on pro-democracy protestors, according to a July 30 news release. The designations target the Policia Nacional Revolucionaria and Director Oscar Alejandro Callejas Valcarce and Deputy Director Eddy Manuel Sierra Arias.
The U.S. is planning a sanctions campaign to target Iranian procurement programs for drones and guided missiles, The Wall Street Journal reported July 29. The sanctions could target providers of parts used to build the drones and missiles because U.S. military officials have seen a “major increase” in the use of drones against U.S. forces, the report said. The sanctions could target Iranian import channels from Russia and China, the report said. The Treasury Department and the Office of Foreign Assets Control didn’t comment.