Trump Preparing To Add Venezuela To State Sponsors Of Terrorism List - Reports

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th November, 2018) US President Donald Trump is expected to add Venezuela to the US list of state sponsors of terrorism, local media reported on Tuesday.

The Trump administration is getting ready to add Venezuela to the US list of state sponsors of terrorism, the Washington Post newspaper reported, citing US officials and internal government emails.

The newspaper added that US officials and the Department of State declined to comment on the pending decision. However, the Washington Post noted that the State Department had recently asked for feedback on the proposed decision from agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the US Agency for International Development.

On November 1, Trump informed the US lawmakers that he had signed an executive order to impose sweeping new sanctions on Venezuela's gold exports.

Trump said that the measure came in response to the efforts of Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro's government to plunder his country's wealth for their own "corrupt purposes."

For years, Venezuela has been living in a state of a political and economic crisis, which was worsened by a decline in oil prices and sanctions introduced by the United States.

Millions of Venezuelans have been seeking refuge, mostly in neighboring Latin American countries. According to the estimates of the United Nations, a total of three million people have left Venezuela, with around 2.4 million of them residing across Latin America and the Caribbean, including more than one million in Colombia.