US sanctions date from April 2016 following president Barack Obama’s executive order a month earlier, permitting them on the bizarre grounds that Venezuela is a “rare and extraordinary threat to US national security and foreign policy.” Following President Donald Trump’s renewal of the 2015 executive order declaring Venezuela a threat to US national security, further rounds of sanctions have been imposed against Venezuela in February 2017, May 2017, July 2017, August 2017, November 2017 and March 2018. They block financial transactions, both payments and remittances, freeze Venezuela’s financial assets held externally and delay buying and selling operations, not only of the Venezuelan government and companies but also foreign business partners.