WASHINGTON—The United States plans to turn up sanctions pressure on Venezuela but sees less need to immediately target its energy sector, given sagging production from the OPEC member’s state-run oil company, a senior U.S. administration official said on Oct. 17.
The U.S. government has imposed several rounds of sanctions on Venezuelan military and political figures close to socialist President Nicolás Maduro, who it blames for trampling on human rights and triggering the country’s economic collapse.
