A bipartisan group of 34 US lawmakers has sent a letter to US President Donald Trump urging him to step up pressure on Venezuela’s government by immediately sanctioning officials responsible for corruption and human rights abuses, The Associated Press has learned.
The letter was partly prompted by an AP investigation, which it cites, that found corruption in Venezuela’s food imports.
It also calls for a thorough probe into alleged drug trafficking and support for Middle Eastern terror groups by the country’s new vice president, Tareck El Aissami.
El Aissami has been the target of US law enforcement since his days as interior minister almost a decade ago, and has been tied to bribes paid to officials by the nation’s top convicted drug trafficker.
He has denied any wrongdoing.
Relations between the US and its staunchest critic in Latin America have been tense for years — the two countries have not exchanged ambassadors since 2010.
At the US Congress’ insistence, former US president Barack Obama sanctioned several top Venezuelan officials for cracking down on opponents or helping to smuggle cocaine to the US.
However, Trump mentioned the country only briefly during the campaign.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s comments during his confirmation gave little sign of whether he will depart from the Obama administration’s relative restraint, and call for dialogue between Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his opponents.
Venezuela is mired in political gridlock, even as its economy is falling apart.
Amid such uncertainty, Maduro has taken a softer tack.
After blasting Trump as a “bandit” and “mental patient” during the campaign, he has remained silent since.
“He won’t be worse than Obama, that’s the only thing I dare to say,” Maduro said last month in an appeal to supporters to withhold judgement on the new US leader.
The letter, written by US Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the Republican former chair of the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Senator Robert Menendez, a Democat and the ranking member of the Senate foreign relations subcommittee that oversees Latin America, appears intended to force the administration’s hand.
“Decisive, principled action in response to unfolding developments in Venezuela as one of the first foreign policy actions of your administration would send a powerful message to the Maduro regime and the Venezuelan people,” according to the letter, which was signed by an equal number of Democrats and Republicans.
Specifically, the lawmakers call on Trump to sanction officials responsible for profiting from the dire humanitarian situation. That includes officials in the Venezuelan military who have been put in charge of distributing food, but the AP found that are instead making money from hunger.
The letter mentions the AP investigation’s findings that two generals, Venezuelan Minister of Food Rodolfo Marco Torres and his predecessor Carlos Osorio, are among military officials trafficking in hard-to-find food for personal profit.
Neither official responded to requests for comment, but in the past, both have dismissed charges of corruption as empty accusations propagated by political opponents.
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