Américo Alex Mata García (Mata) was appointed as an Alternate Director on the Board of Directors of the National Bank of Housing and Habitat, also known as BANAVIH, under the Ministry of Popular Power for Habitat and Housing. Mata was also the Vice Minister of Agricultural Economics and the President of the Agricultural Bank of Venezuela, both of which attached to the Ministry of Popular Power for Agriculture and Lands. Mata is a former President of Corpomiranda, a state-owned company known for its role in executing public policies involving the territorial development of and populations inhabiting the area that comprises the state of Miranda, the Tuy River Basin, and the Tovar, Ribas, Revenga, and Santos de Michelena municipalities of Aragua State. In his role as the coordinator of Maduro’s 2013 presidential campaign, Mata allegedly asked for and received payments from Odebrecht, a Brazilian construction company mired in a worldwide corruption scandal. Mata allegedly asked for 50 million dollars in the name of the Venezuelan Government, simultaneously guaranteeing Odebrecht contracts for future works. Odebrecht is reported to have provided 35 million dollars to Maduro’s campaign in 2013.
On July 10, 2015, OFAC issued the Venezuela Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR part 591 (the ‘‘Regulations’’) (80 FR 39676, July 10, 2015) to implement the Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Act of 2014 (Pub. L. 113– 278) and Executive Order 13692 of March 8, 2015 (‘‘Blocking Property and Suspending Entry of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Venezuela’’) (E.O. 13692). The Regulations were published in abbreviated form for the purpose of providing immediate guidance to the public. Since then, the President has issued six additional Executive orders pursuant to the national emergency declared in E.O. 13692: Executive Order 13808 of August 24, 2017 (‘‘Imposing Additional Sanctions With Respect to the Situation in Venezuela’’) (82 FR 41155, August 29, 2017); Executive Order 13827 of March 19, 2018 (‘‘Taking Additional Steps to Address the Situation in Venezuela’’) (83 FR 12469, March 21, 2018); Executive Order 13835 of May 21, 2018 (‘‘Prohibiting Certain Additional Transactions With Respect to Venezuela’’) (83 FR 24001, May 24, 2018); Executive Order 13850 of November 1, 2018 (‘‘Blocking Property of Additional Persons Contributing to the Situation in Venezuela’’) (83 FR 55243, November 2, 2018); Executive Order 13857 of January 25, 2019 (‘‘Taking Additional Steps To Address the National Emergency With Respect to Venezuela’’) (84 FR 509, January 30, 2019); and Executive Order 13884 of August 5, 2019 (‘‘Blocking Property of the Government of Venezuela’’) (84 FR 38843, August 7, 2019).
