In this blog post, Timothy O'Toole discusses President Trump's executive order, issued in August 2017, that significantly broadens U.S. sanctions against Venezuela. The U.S. began imposing sanctions against officials of the Venezuelan government through the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in 2015. The president's executive order moves beyond sanctioning individuals and places restrictions on the Venezuelan government as a whole. "The bottom line is that the new sanctions imposed by the U.S. last Friday are far more extensive and complex than earlier sanctions against Venezuela. The prohibitions are broad, attempting to cut the Venezuelan government off from U.S. debt and equity markets, but also contain important exceptions, especially for transactions involving CITGO," O'Toole wrote. "The consequences of violating these sanctions can be severe, as U.S. regulators are empowered to impose significant monetary and criminal penalties against any violator, including against non-U.S. companies and individuals in some circumstances. Companies and individuals attempting to do business in Venezuela, especially with any arm of the Venezuelan government, should tread very cautiously before engaging in future transactions."