New York Times: U.S. Sanctions Venezuelan Elites for Alleged Food Corruption Scheme
“United States officials have accused President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela of a corruption scheme in which his officials, family members, and business partners made off with large sums of money meant to feed the country’s starving population. The allegations appeared Thursday in a new round of sanctions targeting three stepsons of Mr. Maduro and a Colombian business partner of theirs named Alex Saab, among others. American officials said that for years the men had used shell companies and no-bid contracts to siphon off government money, largely from Venezuela’s state-run food program, for their own profit. … A Trump administration official said the sanctions would not stop food or medicine from being sent to Venezuela to ease shortages during the [country’s economic] crisis…” (Casey/Jakes, 7/25).