U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Venezuela’s Vice President, Calling Him a Drug ‘Kingpin’<br />Vice President Tareck El Aissami, according to a Treasury Department statement, was being sanctioned for "playing a significant role in international narcotics trafficking." The sanctions mean<br />that Mr. El Aissami, 42, will be blocked from financial dealings with Americans and will have any American assets frozen.<br />Venezuela said that facilitated shipments of narcotics from Venezuela, to include control over planes<br />that leave from a Venezuelan air base, as well as control of drug routes through the port<br />The department also said Mr. El Aissami had protected accused drug traffickers, including the<br />Venezuelan drug lord Walid Makled García and the Colombian kingpin Daniel Barrera Barrera.<br />In a letter on Feb. 8, 34 members of the United States Congress urged the president to "take immediate action to sanction regime officials." The<br />Treasury Department document contained wide-ranging accusations against Mr. El Aissami, the result of years of investigation, officials said.<br />13, 2017<br />CARACAS, Venezuela — The Trump administration announced sanctions against Venezuela’s vice president on Monday, calling him a drug "kingpin" in its first moves against the country’s leftist government<br />that President Trump railed against during his campaign.<br />Mr. El Aissami does not have a good history on human rights, Mr. Smilde said, adding<br />that while he was governor of the state of Aragua "he presided over a police force that came to be one of the most violent and abusive in the country." Ana Vanessa Herrero reported from Caracas, and Nicholas Casey from Huaraz, Peru.
