U.S. Sanctions Six Venezuelan Security Officials Over Aid Block

(Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration sanctioned six Venezuelan security officials for alleged involvement in stopping humanitarian aid convoys from entering the country.

“We are sanctioning members of Maduro’s security forces in response to the reprehensible violence, tragic deaths, and unconscionable torching of food and medicine destined for sick and starving Venezuelans,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

The Treasury Department issued a notice Friday sanctioning Richard Jesus Lopez Vargas, identified as the commanding general of the Venezuelan National Guard; Jesus Maria Mantilla Oliveros, identified as the commander of Strategic Integral Defense for the Guayana region, Alberto Mirtiliano Bermudez Valderrey, identified as the division general for the Integral Defense Zone in Bolivar state; and Jose Leonardo Norono Torres, identified as the commander for the Integral Defense Zone in Tachira state;

The notice also sanctioned Jose Miguel Dominguez Ramirez, identified as the chief commissioner in Tachira state for President Nicolas Maduro’s special police unit, the Fuerza de Acciones Especiales, and Cristhiam Abelardo Morales Zambrano, director of Venezuela’s Bolivaran National Police.

To contact the reporter on this story: Saleha Mohsin in Washington at smohsin2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Mike Dorning

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