On February 18, the United States took action to halt the former Maduro regime’s theft of Venezuela’s assets and continued usurpation of democracy by sanctioning Rosneft Trading S.A., a Swiss-incorporated, Russian-owned oil brokerage firm, for operating in Venezuela’s oil sector. Additionally, Rosneft Trading board chair and president Didier Casimiro, who also serves as Rosneft’s Vice President for Refining, Petrochemical, Commerce and Logistics, was designated for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of Rosneft Trading.

As the primary broker of global deals for the sale and transport of Venezuela’s crude oil, Rosneft Trading has propped up the dictatorial Maduro, enabling his repression of the Venezuelan people. Maduro has destroyed Venezuela’s institutions, economy, and infrastructure, while enriching himself and his cronies, through his abuse of state power and his welcoming of malign support from Russia, as well as from Cuba, Iran, and China.

While interim President Juan Guaido works with his coalition of international partners toward a better future for the people of Venezuela, Maduro is increasingly isolated and reliant upon the assistance of a small group of allied regimes that plunder Venezuela’s resources while he continues to repress Venezuelans. The people of Venezuela have spoken out courageously against Maduro and his corrupt associates and continue to demand freedom and adherence to the rule of law. The United States is committed to standing with them until democracy and prosperity is restored in Venezuela.

Mike Pompeo