U.S. sanctions Venezuelan top court judges
MIAMI — The U.S. denied traveland froze U.S. assets on Thursday for eight judges on Venezuela’s Supreme Court, as punishment for stripping the Venezuelan congress of all powers earlier this year, a decision the court later reversed amid widespread internationaloutcry.
The sanctions are the first imposed by the Trump administration against highranking members of the Venezuelan government that are not related to drug trafficking. Among those targeted: Supreme Court PresidentMaikel Moreno.
The penalties are intended to continue to isolate the embattled administration of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro — which has been besieged by weeks of escalatingprotests following an economic collapse that has left scores of Venezuelans angry, poor and hungry — and
Foreign policy roundup
to change the behavior of the officialsin the government.
The court, stacked with Maduro loyalists, declared in March it would assume all legislative functions from the opposition-controlled National Assembly, which had been deemed illegitimate after being held in contempt of previous court rulings. Denounced by the opposition and international community as an undemocratic power grab, and under apparent pressure from Mr. Maduro, the court’s decisionwas undone days later bythe judges themselves.
More than 40 people have died over the past six weeks as hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have taken to the streets.
Aid issue skirted
Mr. Trump congratulated Columbia president Juan Manuel Santos on his hardwon peace deal with the leftist FARC rebels who terrorized the South American nation for much of the last halfcentury.
But Mr. Trump did not explicitly endorse the plan that has divided the Colombia community and left gaping questions about future U.S. financial support for the deal.
Saudis’ royal welcome
When Mr. Trump leaves for Saudi Arabia on Friday for his first trip overseas since taking office, it will be for much more than a run-ofthe-millstate visit.
The Saudis have internationalized the event, organizing a sprawling “Arab Islamic American Summit,” as well as a country music concert.
Drug trafficking crisis
Secretary of State Rex erson on Thursday said that the root of the deadly drug trafficking crisis killing thousands of people on both sides of the border with Mexico was American drug habits, and that “Americans must ownthis problem.”
Erdogan looks on
New video surfaced Thursday that shows President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey looking on as armed members of his security team violently charge a group of protesters outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.
Gay Chechens
On Wednesday, Buzzfeed News reported the State Department denied visas to gay Chechens fleeing persecution, even while LGBT groups in Russia frantically search for ways to get them out of the country.