Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale will travel to Canada January 29-30. On January 30, Under Secretary Hale will co-chair the twelfth meeting of the U.S.-Canada High-Level Policy Review Group (HLPRG) in Ottawa, Canada with Canadian Assistant Deputy Minister for International Security and Political Director Mark Gwozdecky.
U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo will host a day of meetings with the foreign ministers of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS on February 6 in Washington, D.C. The full 79-member Coalition will meet for in-depth discussions on the impending territorial defeat of ISIS in Iraq and Syria, which is the result of four years of Coalition and our partners’ efforts, and a significant milestone towards delivering ISIS an enduring defeat.
On January 25, Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo certified the authority of Venezuela’s interim President Juan Guaido to receive and control certain property in accounts of the Government of Venezuela or Central Bank of Venezuela held by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York or any other U.S. insured banks, in accordance with Section 25B of the Federal Reserve Act.
More than 2,000 service members from more than 30 African and western partner nations will participate in Flintlock 2019 at multiple locations in Burkina Faso and Mauritania from February 18 – March 1, 2019.
Washington – Today the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA) pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13850 for operating in the oil sector of the Venezuelan economy. PdVSA is a Venezuelan state-owned oil company and a primary source of Venezuela’s income and foreign currency, to include U.S. dollars and Euros.
Today, the United States has taken necessary actions to prevent the illegitimate former Maduro regime from further plundering Venezuela’s assets and natural resources.
Washington – The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today lifted sanctions imposed on En+ Group plc (“En+”), UC Rusal plc (“Rusal”), and JSC EuroSibEnergo (“ESE”), following an earlier notification submitted to Congress on December 19, 2018.
SECRETARY POMPEO: Good morning. On behalf of President Trump and the American people I first want to thank Foreign Minister Miguel Vargas of the Dominican Republic, the current president of the Security Council, for scheduling this meeting. My former colleague, Ambassador Haley, lobbied for a year to get the council to address Venezuela but her pleas fell on deaf ears. This meeting is long overdue. And you all know why it’s overdue.
SECRETARY POMPEO: Good morning. The United States is very proud that we had a long overdue meeting here of the UN Security Council today and we are equally proud to stand with the Venezuelan people as they protest and restore democracy in their nation.
SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you, Mr. President. The focus of the UN Security Council is to safeguard international peace and security. The former Maduro regime has oppressed its people for years, forcing millions of Venezuelans to flee the country merely to gain very basic access to food and water.
