U.S. plans new package of Venezuela sanctions soon - sources

The Trump administration imposed sanctions on the chief judge and seven other members of Venezuela’s Supreme Court on

Thursday as punishment for annulling the opposition-led Congress earlier this year, U.S. officials said.

The new sanctions package was aimed at stepping up pressure on the leftist government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his loyalists amid growing concern over a crackdown on street protests and his efforts to consolidate his rule over the South American oil-producing country.

Venezuela’s latest wave of anti-government unrest, which has left at least 45 people dead in the last six weeks, began with the Supreme Court, packed with Maduro supporters, assuming the authorities of the opposition-led Congress in late March …. http://www.reuters.com