On January 10, 2025, in a multilateral sanctions action, the US, Canada, EU, and UK sanctioned various Venezuelan individuals linked to the Venezuelan government and prominent state-owned entities.
US Sanctions
The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC“) designated eight Venezuelan individuals as Specially Designated Nationals pursuant to Executive Order 13692, including the president of the Specially Designated National state-owned petroleum company, Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A., (PdVSA), the Venezuelan Ministry of Transportation and president of the Specially Designated National Venezuelan Consortium of Aeronautical Industries and Air Services (CONVIASA), and six high-level military and police officials. OFAC’s press release on the designations is available here.
Canadian Sanctions
The Government of Canada sanctioned an additional fourteen Venezuelan officials under Schedule 1 of the Special Economic Measures (Venezuela) Regulations. The newly designated individuals are current or former senior Venezuelan officials alleged to have engaged in activities that have directly or indirectly supported human rights violations in Venezuela, including violations during and following the recent July 2024 election. Global Affairs Canada’s press release on the additional designations is available here.
EU Sanctions
The EU has listed a further 15 individuals in view of the situation in the country bringing the total number of individuals subject to sanction to 69. The individuals listed by the EU are members of the National Electoral Council of Venezuela (CNE), the judiciary, and the security forces. The sanctions include asset freezes and a prohibition on the provision of funds or economic resources both directly and indirectly to the persons listed. Furthermore, the restrictive measures in view of the situation in Venezuela have been prolonged by the EU until January 10, 2026.
UK Sanctions
The UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (“OFSI“) designated 15 Venezuelan individuals pursuant to the Venezuela (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. The sanctioned individuals comprise 7 judges, 3 military personnel, 2 electoral officials, 1 intelligence official, and 2 Supreme Tribunal of Justice officials. Notable designations include the President of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice and the Director of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service. OFSI’s notice imposing the designations can be found here.
The authors acknowledge the assistance of Amy Bing for the preparation of this blog post.