Iran Press/America: The Trump administrator imposed sanctions on the Central Bank of Venezuela, saying the bank has been instrumental in propping up the government of Venezuela’s president, Nicolas Maduro.
President Donald Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton says the move is aimed at restricting U.S. transactions with the bank and cutting off the bank’s access to U.S. currency, AP news agency reported.
Bolton says the action is meant to be a warning to others, including Russia, against deploying military assets to Venezuela to help Maduro stay in power.
On the other hand, the Kremlin has rejected U.S. calls for Moscow to withdraw its military specialists from Venezuela. Russia says they are there to honor obligations under previous arms contracts.
Venezuela has plunged into political crisis after Juan Guaido, the leader of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, declared himself interim president in January.
Juan Guaido, the head of the National Assembly, declared himself acting president on January 23.
Shortly after Guaido took an oath swearing himself in before his supporters, US President Donald Trump recognized him as the country's leader. In response, Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro broke off diplomatic ties with the US and gave American diplomats 72 hours to get out of his country.
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