U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Venezuela’s Vice President, Calling Him a Drug ‘Kingpin’
Vice President Tareck El Aissami, according to a Treasury Department statement, was being sanctioned for "playing a significant role in international narcotics trafficking." The sanctions mean
that Mr. El Aissami, 42, will be blocked from financial dealings with Americans and will have any American assets frozen.
Venezuela said that facilitated shipments of narcotics from Venezuela, to include control over planes
that leave from a Venezuelan air base, as well as control of drug routes through the port
The department also said Mr. El Aissami had protected accused drug traffickers, including the
Venezuelan drug lord Walid Makled García and the Colombian kingpin Daniel Barrera Barrera.
In a letter on Feb. 8, 34 members of the United States Congress urged the president to "take immediate action to sanction regime officials." The
Treasury Department document contained wide-ranging accusations against Mr. El Aissami, the result of years of investigation, officials said.
13, 2017
CARACAS, Venezuela — The Trump administration announced sanctions against Venezuela’s vice president on Monday, calling him a drug "kingpin" in its first moves against the country’s leftist government
that President Trump railed against during his campaign.
Mr. El Aissami does not have a good history on human rights, Mr. Smilde said, adding
that while he was governor of the state of Aragua "he presided over a police force that came to be one of the most violent and abusive in the country." Ana Vanessa Herrero reported from Caracas, and Nicholas Casey from Huaraz, Peru.