For the historical perspective - 3/11/2015
Obama Hands Venezuelan Leader a Cause to Stir Support
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/12/world/americas/venezuela-nicolas-maduro-obama.html
But with Mr. Obama’s declaration this week that Venezuela is an “extraordinary threat to the national security” of the United States, that dynamic may be coming undone.
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The declaration by Mr. Obama came in an executive order that he signed on Monday. It authorized the American government to freeze any assets in the United States held by seven Venezuelan law enforcement and military officials whom Washington identified as being responsible for human rights abuses or violations of democratic due process.
While Washington hoped the move would focus attention on deteriorating conditions in Venezuela, it may have backfired by giving Mr. Maduro new momentum. Critics fear that he will use it as an excuse to crack down harder on an opposition that he characterizes as siding with the enemy.
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Officials in Washington said that declaring Venezuela a national security threat was largely a formality required by law in order to carry out sanctions, as was a further declaration in the executive order that the threat constituted a national emergency for the United States.
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