US adds Venezuelan state mining company to sanctions list

WASHINGTON – The U.S. has added a Venezuelan state-owned mining company and its president to a growing sanctions list as it seeks to increase pressure on President Nicolas Maduro.

The Treasury Department says the gold mining company known as Minerven and Adrian Antonio Perdomo Mata are helping to prop up Maduro while encroaching on the land of indigenous people and contributing to deforestation and other environmental problems in Venezuela.

The sanctions announced Tuesday bar any U.S. citizen or entity from any financial transactions with the company or its president.

The U.S. and more than 50 other governments see Maduro’s re-election last year as illegitimate and are pressing him to step down and hand over power to the opposition head of the National Assembly.

Maduro has denounced his opponents as killers and criminals.