Washington, United States
The government of US President Donald Trump on Tuesday punished members of a network allegedly led by Colombian businessman Alex Saab with sanctions and aimed to market Venezuelan crude by evading the penalties that Washington imposed on the state oil company PDVSA in 2019.
The U.S. administration, which first sanctioned the network in June 2020, decided on Tuesday (a day after Trump left the White House) to update its sanctions and impose economic restrictions on three individuals, 14 entities and 6 ships, the Treasury Department said in a statement.
According to Washington, this criminal network was led by Venezuela’s economic vice president, Tareck El Aissami, and the Colombian businessman. Alex Saab, Alleged ringleader of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and who is being held in Cape Verde awaiting extradition to the US, accused of money laundering.
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“Those who facilitate attempts by Maduro’s illegitimate regime to evade US sanctions contribute to the corruption that Venezuela consumes,” the statement said in a statement. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Among those sanctioned is and the Italian Alessandro Bazzoni, Who allegedly was in charge of connecting to two other sanctioned companies: Element, based in Malta and which was bought by PDVSA, and Swissoil, based in Switzerland and which was in charge of transporting Venezuelan crude in the Asian market.
According to the Treasury, following the arrest in June 2020 of Saab in Cape Verde and the sanctions on Mexican businessman Joaquín Leal, Bazzooni took charge of coordinating negotiations for the resale of oil Venezuelan PDVSA and the charter of vessels to transport crude oil.
The Spanish-Venezuelan citizen Francisco Javier D’Agostino Casado, who worked with Saab, Leal and Bazzoni to coordinate the purchase and sale of crude oil on behalf of PDVSA, has also been sanctioned.
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The other appointed by the Treasury is the Swiss Philipp Paul Vartan Apikian, owner and director of Swissoil, who, according to the US, has been involved in the sale and transportation of oil from Venezuela.
As a result of this Washington action, all property and assets that these individuals or businesses may own in the U.S. or are in the possession of Americans are blocked, and any transaction of U.S. citizens with them is prohibited.
Since coming to the White House in 2017, the Trump administration has imposed numerous rounds of economic sanctions against the Maduro Executive, Which he considers “illegitimate.”
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The US has been one of the most loyal allies of the Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó, Recognized in 2019 as interim president of Venezuela by more than half a hundred countries.
The Government of Venezuela Democrat Joe Biden’s new administration, which will assume the U.S. presidency tomorrow, Wednesday, is expected to have “signs of decency,” comply with international law and establish “diplomatic channels of respectful dialogue.”
It remains to be seen what the policy on Biden will be, which advocates a more pragmatic and less ideological approach.