Treasury Should Do More to Limit Impact of Sanctions on Venezuelan Aid, GAO Says

The Treasury Department isn’t doing enough to limit the impacts of U.S. sanctions on humanitarian aid to Venezuela, the Government Accountability Office said in a report. Although Treasury has taken steps to mitigate the sanctions’ impact -- including through general licenses and by responding to individual questions about humanitarian aid -- GAO said the agency doesn’t “systematically track and analyze information from these inquiries” to spot trends or repeating issues. “Without collection and analysis of this information,” the GAO said Feb. 4, “Treasury and its interagency partners may be limited in their ability to develop further actions to ensure that U.S. sanctions do not disrupt humanitarian assistance.”

On the positive side, the GAO said, the agency conducts a “variety of outreach activities” to learn about the impact of sanctions on humanitarian organizations, including through roundtables and discussions with foreign governments. The State Department also contributes, the report said, including by “frequently” engaging with humanitarian groups and by tracking aid delivery challenges. Each agency also offers exemptions for transactions related to humanitarian-related business.

But the GAO said humanitarian organizations continue to report issues maintaining bank accounts and processing transactions because of banks’ fear of U.S. sanctions (see 2004220028). Although Treasury officials said they don’t target humanitarian aid, agency officials said “banks may still seek to minimize risk by limiting services for any transactions involving Venezuelan entities.” Treasury officials also said they receive reports of delays from humanitarian groups, which “usually occur in all conflict and high-risk jurisdictions, even where there are not U.S. sanctions programs.” These issues can hamper humanitarian groups “from accessing and routing the funds they use in Venezuela to implement programs” and block humanitarian imports into the country, the GAO said. A Treasury spokesperson didn’t comment

Rep. Andy Levin, D-Mich., and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., said the report suggests that U.S. sanctions “likely exacerbated Venezuela’s economic decline.” They said federal agencies have worked to continue the flow of humanitarian aid, but more can be done. “While sanctions can at times have a positive impact, we must ensure that all precautions are taken so that sanctions do not impede the delivery of humanitarian assistance to those who need it most,” Meeks said Feb. 8. “It is time to move forward from four years of the [Donald] Trump Administration’s failed policy towards Venezuela and work with our allies in the Lima Group and the European Union on a more effective, multilateral approach to the country’s multiple crises.”