The new sanctions announced by the US authorities are aimed at preventing President Alexander Lukashenko and his family from using the presidential plane on international trips.
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The United States on Friday sanctioned nine people and three entities in Belarus it accuses of suppressing democracy movements within the country and supporting Russia in the war against Ukraine.
Sanctions, among other issues, aim to prevent Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko and his family from using the presidential planea Boeing 737, on international trips, said the US Treasury Department, quoted by the Spanish news agency EFE.
Two major Belarusian car manufacturers, BelAZ and MAS from Minsk, are also targeted by the new sanctions.
Employees of these companies participated in the protests that followed the August 2020 presidential election, which Lukashenko won again and which the United States considered fraudulent.
According to the Treasury, when the workers of these companies began to protest, the management of BelAZ and MAZ tried to intimidate them and threatened to fire them.
As a result, the US Treasury Department announced sanctions against Sergei Olegovich Nikiforovich, head of BelAZ, and Valery Valerievich Ivankovich, who had previously been targeted by the European Union (EU) and Canada.
The United States also tightened restrictions on the Belarusian Central Election Commission (CEC), which was sanctioned after the 2020 elections.
Treasury Department added to its “blacklist” seven of the new CEC members who became members of the commission after Washington imposed sanctions. All assets that the sanctioned persons may have in the United States will be frozen.
will also be Prohibited from conducting financial transactions with any US citizeneffectively making it difficult for them to access the international financial system, which is based on the dollar.
At the same time, the United States announced thatwill not restrict visas to 14 peoplesome members of the Belarusian government whom Washington accuses of participating in internal repression or of supporting Russia in Ukraine.
Belarus, a former Soviet republic, has become one of Russia’s main allies in the war against Ukraine, and soldiers from both countries have been conducting joint military exercises.
At the beginning of the conflict, a year ago, Belarus allowed Russia to station troops on its territory with the idea that they could reach Kiev by the shortest land route, in an offensive that failed.
Source: Observadora
