WASHINGTON, May 16: The United States on Monday imposed military sanctions on Venezuela, a main oil supplier, accusing President Hugo Chavez’s leftist government of failing to cooperate in the ‘war on terror’. Venezuela ‘earned their spot honestly’ on the list of countries whose cooperation is unsatisfactory, said US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.
Mr McCormack cited concerns over Caracas’s ties with Tehran and Havana, which Washington considers state sponsors of terrorism, and their ‘intelligence-sharing relationship, which has made it very difficult for the United States to work on anti-terrorism efforts with them (Venezuela)’.
“If you have a reasonable or rational expectation that somehow information that you share with them might make its way to just the groups that you’re trying to combat, that’s certainly negative,” he said.
The US sanctions ban arm sales and technology transfers to Venezuela, another State Department spokesman said.
“We are certifying to Congress that Venezuela is not fully cooperating with US anti-terrorism efforts,” Eric Watnik, a spokesman for the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, said.—AFP
