As Trump grows frustrated on Venezuela, U.S. to ‘squeeze’ Cuba, scrutinize Russia
WASHINGTON/CARACAS, (Reuters) - The Trump administration is preparing new sanctions on Cuba over its support for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and is taking a “closer look” at Russia’s role in helping him remain in power, the U.S. special envoy on Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, told Reuters.
President Donald Trump’s frustration over the failure of his “maximum pressure” campaign to unseat Maduro has spurred foreign policy aides to ready further U.S. actions and press for tougher sanctions on OPEC member Venezuela by European and Latin American partners, a second senior administration official said on condition of anonymity.
Abrams said Washington sees Cuba and Russia providing a lifeline to Maduro, nine months after the Trump administration and dozens of other countries resolved to no longer recognize the socialist leader as Venezuela’s legitimate president.
“We’re always looking to ways to squeeze (Cuba) because we do not see any improvement in their conduct either with respect to Venezuela or human rights internally,” Abrams said in an interview in his State Department office.
The new sanctions under consideration for communist Cuba, expected “in the weeks ahead,” would likely target the island’s tourism sector as well as Venezuela’s cutrate oil delivered to Havana, building on the U.S. blacklisting of tankers used to transport the supplies, the senior official said.
While U.S. sanctions on Cuba stem from accusations that it provides training, arms and intelligence to Maduro’s security forces, targeting Russia would be based heavily on Moscow’s financial support of Caracas. Oil giant Rosneft has helped Venezuela market its crude since Washington imposed sanctions on state oil company PDVSA in January.
Asked whether Washington is preparing sanctions against Rosneft, Abrams said the administration was “taking a closer look at the ways in which Russia is sustaining the regime” but declined to specify any entities or individuals.