Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza has been targeted in the latest US sanctions on his government (Don Emmert)

Washington (AFP) – The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza as it tries to ramp up pressure to remove President Nicolas Maduro.

“The United States will not stand by and watch as the illegitimate Maduro regime starves the Venezuelan people of their wealth, humanity and right to democracy,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement announcing that any US assets of Arreaza would be blocked.

The sanctions are the latest slapped by the United States against senior figures in Venezuela as it seeks to install in power Juan Guaido, the opposition leader.

But while most previous sanction announcements alleged corruption or rights violations by the officials, the Treasury Department did not cite specific violations by Arreaza, instead saying he was targeted for his role as foreign minister.

“Treasury will continue to target corrupt Maduro insiders, including those tasked with conducting diplomacy and carrying out justice on behalf of this illegitimate regime,” Mnuchin said.

Arreaza, responding on Twitter, linked the sanctions to his call at the United Nations the previous day against the US “criminal blockade” of Venezuela, saying the reaction he heard had shown him “that we walk the right path.”

“Today, the Trump administration responds with desperation against us. TRUTH hurts!” he tweeted.

Arreaza, a former journalist who studied at Cambridge, has traveled several times to New York to represent Venezuela at the United Nations since the United States and most Latin American countries in January declared Maduro to be illegitimate.

Maduro was re-elected in a vote widely condemned for irregularities. The leftist firebrand presides over a crumbling economy, with inflation forecast to hit a mind-boggling 10 million percent this year and millions of Venezuelans having fled due to the shortage of basic goods.

President Donald Trump’s administration has said it has no interest in speaking to Maduro officials on anything other than logistical issues as it demands that the president step down.

The sanctions will also prohibit any property dealings by US citizens with Arreaza.

Also targeted in the latest US sanctions was a Venezuelan judge, Carol Bealexis Padilla de Arretureta.

Disclaimer: Validity of the above story is for 7 Days from original date of publishing. Source: AFP.