Pence Speech
In August, the Trump administration barred the trading of new debt issued by Venezuela’s government and state-owned oil company in U.S. markets amid deteriorating humanitarian conditions in the oil-rich nation. The U.S. government has been weighing sanctions on Venezuela’s all-important oil sector before the nation’s presidential election on May 20. That would be a potentially crippling blow to the Maduro government, which depends almost exclusively on crude sales to sustain what’s left of the economy.
The Treasury Department warned investors in January to steer clear of the digital currency, calling it “another attempt to prop up the Maduro regime, while further looting the resources of the Venezuelan people.”
Vice President Mike Pence will pressure Maduro’s government in a speech Wednesday to a session of the Organization of American States, his office said.
“The Vice President will call on all members to increase pressure on the Maduro regime to restore the country’s democracy and address the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Venezuela,” Pence’s spokeswoman, Alyssa Farah, said Monday in a statement.
Trump plans to attend the Summit of the Americas in Lima next month, where his administration is likely to highlight its efforts to isolate the Venezuelan government.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.