On August 5, 2019, President Trump signed an executive
order (the New EO) that significantly expands US sanctions on the
Government of Venezuela.
Over the past two years, the US had steadily imposed an array of
limited sanctions on the Government of Venezuela. These sanctions
prohibit US individuals and entities (US persons) from dealing in
certain government-related debt, bonds, equity interests, dividend
payments, digital currency, digital coin, and digital tokens. The
US has also blocked the property and interests in property of
certain Venezuelan state-owned entities, most notably, on January
28, 2019, state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A.
Under the New EO, effective August 5, 2019 all of the
Government of Venezuela's property and interests in property
that are in the US or in the possession or control of US persons is
blocked. As a result, all assets of the Government of Venezuela
that are in the US are frozen, and US persons anywhere in the
