US Vice President Mark Pence on Friday said the US had placed sanctions on 34 vessels belonging to Venezuela's state oil company and two companies that ship crude oil to Cuba, as Washington steps up its efforts against President Nicolas Maduro.
The Ban on the oil shipment is the most recent move by Us as it seeks to squeeze revenue from the cash-strapped leftist government amid a deepening political crisis in the country.
With the two companies involved in shipping oil in Venezuela from Venezuela, the US put nearly three dozen ships on the financial sanctions list on Friday. The purpose of this ban is to increase the pressure of resigning Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and give strength to the opposition.
"Venezuela's oil belongs to the Venezuelan people," Pence said in a speech at Rice University in Houston.
"Those looking on should know this: All options are on the table. And Nicolas Maduro would do well not to test the resolve of the United States of America," he said.
The U.S. Department of Finance announced the restriction, in which a company is Balto Bay Shipping Inc. located in Monrovia, Liberia. The department said that the second company is the Prop. Management of Greece.
Cuba is a major country importing crude oil from Venezuela, and in return, he sends political consultants, intelligence and military officers and medical professionals, who help Maduro government to stay in power. Now no U.S. citizen or organization after this restriction can deal with these companies.
U.S. sanctions imposed earlier this year prevent PDVSA from collecting money for any oil shipped to the United States, which once imported more than a third of the company's exports.
Overall Venezuelan oil exports have fallen to around 500,000 barrels a day. Much of it goes to Russia and China, although India has been the largest importer in recent months.
