By Matt Spetalnick and Simon Lewis
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Biden administration said on Thursday it was imposing U.S. sanctions on 16 allies of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in response to voter fraud in the country's election and his government's ensuing crackdown on the political opposition.
The move came just days after Edmundo Gonzalez, recognized by the U.S. and other countries as winner of the July 28 presidential election, fled to Spain after Maduro's government issued a warrant for the opposition leader's arrest.
Among those targeted for sanctions were Supreme Court President Caryslia Rodriguez, electoral council director Rosalba Gil and National Assembly Vice President Pedro Infante. The list includes others linked to the election as well as military and intelligence officials accused of post-election repression.
As part of the first punitive U.S. measures in response to Maduro's disputed reelection claim, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington was also imposing visa restrictions on an unspecified number of "Maduro-aligned" officials.
But the U.S. stopped short of announcing any new actions against the OPEC member's vital energy sector, which is already under heavy U.S. sanctions, an omission that raises questions about the potential impact of the new measures.
President Joe Biden's administration is seeking to punish Maduro and his loyalists for what the U.S. sees as reneging on the promise of a competitive democratic vote while also pressuring him into negotiations with the opposition.
"The Treasury Department is targeting key officials involved in Maduro's fraudulent and illegitimate claims of victory and his brutal crackdown on free expression following the election, as the overwhelming majority of Venezuelans call for change," Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a statement.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said in a message on Telegram that his government rejected the "new crime of aggression by the United States against Venezuela in imposing unilaterally coercive, illegitimate and illegal measures on officials of the state."
DEMANDS FOR TRANSPARENCY
Election officials and Venezuela's top court have said Maduro, a Socialist who has been in power since 2013, won the election. The opposition said tallies collected by its observers show a resounding victory for Gonzalez.
Many democratic countries have condemned Maduro for claiming victory without providing proof, demanded full transparency, and accused him of tampering with the vote count.
Gonzalez, a 75-year-old veteran diplomat, flew to Spain seeking political asylum last weekend after Venezuelan authorities threatened to arrest him, accusing him of conspiracy and other crimes, charges that he denied.
Venezuelans' hopes for political change have largely faded with Gonzalez's flight, the post-election crackdown and the international community's failure so far to take decisive action to loosen Maduro's grip on power.
Washington's cautious response, some U.S. officials have said, reflects misgivings about actions that could spike global oil prices or inflict serious damage to Venezuela's already struggling economy, fearing that could spur an increased flow of Venezuelan migrants to the U.S.-Mexico border.
Aides to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who has replaced him at the top of the Democratic ticket for the Nov. 5 U.S. election, are wary about giving Republicans a further opening on the hot-button immigration issue.
Asked whether the U.S. was weighing future oil sector-related actions, including adding restrictions on U.S. oil producer Chevron's operations in Venezuela, a senior U.S. official told reporters a "range of options" were under consideration but did not provide details.
The new Treasury sanctions call for freezing any U.S. assets held by the targeted officials.
However, there are questions about the effectiveness of such individual sanctions, given that Washington has already targeted more than 140 Venezuelan officials, including Maduro himself in 2017, and placed U.S. visa bans on nearly 2,000 people.
The U.S. official insisted the sanctions were an important step in an effort to pressure Maduro to "make better decisions" on Venezuela's political situation before the presidential inauguration in January.
Washington, which rejected Maduro's 2018 reelection as a sham, broadly eased sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry last October in response to a deal between Maduro and opposition parties. But in April the U.S. reimposed the sanctions, accusing Maduro of failing to meet most of his electoral commitments.
(Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu in Washington and Vivian Sequera in Caracas; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
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