On Monday night, the White House announced it would be imposing sanctions against Venezuela Vice President Tareck El Aissami, due to accusations that he’s a major drug trafficker, as reported by the New York Times. The White House went so far as to call him a narcotics “kingpin” in the process. The sanctions seem to indicate the Donald Trump administration will be taking a hard-line stance against the authoritarian regime.
According to the Treasury Department, El Aissami was being sanctioned because of his reported dealings with international narcotics trafficking. Bloomberg notes that he also may have been responsible for helping Lebanese Islamist group Iran and Hezbollah gain traction in Latin America.
Trump has reportedly come under pressure by both sides of the political aisle to come down on Venezuela, which is experiencing an economic collapse and food shortage. El Aissami’s rise to the vice presidency was brought on by the country’s dwindling economy and diminishing support for President Nicolas Maduro, who has bestowed far-reaching powers for El Aissami:
“In the weeks since his accession, Maduro has granted [El Aissami] wide-reaching decree powers and tapped him to lead a newly formed “commando unit” against alleged coup mongers and officials suspected of treason. Among the slew of arrests since the unit’s formation is a substitute legislator from a hard-line opposition party and a retired general who, years before, broke ranks with the government.”
El Aissami has been under investigation by Homeland Security and the Drug Enforcement Administrations since 2011 for money laundering. Perhaps with these sanctions, Trump can show that he can deal with foreign policy that extends beyond building a wall.
(Via The New York Times & Bloomberg)