PDVSA subsidiaries in Central America slapped with sanctions

The US Treasury Department extended economic sanctions imposed on PDVSA, Venezuela’s state-run oil company, to two of its subsidiaries in Central America, increasing the pressure on some of the staunchest foreign allies of President Nicolás Maduro’s regime.

Sanctions have been slapped on Alba Petróleos in El Salvador and Albanisa in Nicaragua, both PDVSA’s subsidiaries under the control of the governing parties in each of the countries.

“As a result of our designation of PDVSA, the sanctions also apply to any entity in which PDVSA has direct or indirect ownership of 50 percent or more,” said a spokesman for the US Treasury Department, InSight Crime reports.