The U.S. publicly sanctioned two Venezuelan military officials for “gross violations of human rights,” the State Department said Aug. 2. The agency said the U.S. sanctioned Rafael Enrique Bastardo Mendoza, commander of Venezuela’s police special forces, and Ivan Rafael Hernandez Dala, commander of military counter intelligence, for acts that were “documented extensively in the July 5, 2019 report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights ... [that] noted at least 7,523 extrajudicial killings documented by a Venezuelan non-governmental organization.” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement that “in addition to the designation of Bastardo and Hernandez, I am publicly designating Bastardo’s spouse, Jeisy Catherine Leal Andarcia, and Hernandez’s spouse, Luzbel Carolina Colmenares Morales, as well as the minor children of both officials.”

President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Aug. 1 to give the State and Treasury departments the ability to impose more sanctions on countries using chemical or biological weapons. The new sanctions include restrictions on financial loans by international banks, blocking measures and trade controls.

The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control on Aug. 1 removed more than 40 entries from its Kingpin Act designations, which impose sanctions on international narcotics traffickers. The removals include people based in Colombia, Panama, Guatemala and Mexico.

The State Department announced sanctions on Anselem Nhamo Sanyatwe, the former commander of the Zimbabwe National Army’s Presidential Guard Brigade and current ambassador of Zimbabwe to Tanzania, the agency said in an Aug. 1 press release. Sanyatwe was sanctioned for a “gross violation of human rights,” the agency said, including a “violent crackdown” against unarmed election protesters in Zimbabwe in 2018 that led to six deaths. The State Department also designated Chido Machona, Sanyatwe’s spouse.

The State Department on July 31 issued a correction related to the designation of al-Shabaab as a foreign terrorist organization. The correct version of the designation is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register Aug. 1.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister and spokesman, Treasury announced July 31. The move comes about a month after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters in June that President Donald Trump was planning to sanction Javad Zarif (see 1906240046). “Javad Zarif implements the reckless agenda of Iran’s Supreme Leader, and is the regime’s primary spokesperson around the world,” Mnuchin said in a statement. “At the same time the Iranian regime denies Iranian citizens’ access to social media, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif spreads the regime’s propaganda and disinformation around the world through these mediums.”

The U.S. is continuing the national emergency declaration in Lebanon, first issued in 2007, for one year because of the “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy,” the White House said July 30. The emergency designation was scheduled to expire on Aug. 1.

The State Department is designating the mayor of Durres, Albania, and his immediate family members for “involvement in significant corruption,” the agency said in a July 30 press release. Vangjush Dako is being sanctioned under the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act.

The U.S. announced sanctions on people, property and entities in Mali contributing to the country’s terrorism, drug trafficking, human trafficking and human rights abuses, the White House said in a July 26 executive order. The sanctions impose asset freezes, restrict U.S.-related travel and block certain donations to Mali by anyone targeted with the measures.

The State Department added four sub-entities owned by the Cuban military to the Cuba Restricted List, the agency said in a July 26 press release and a notice in the Federal Register. The U.S. bans all financial transactions between any entity on the list and U.S. people or companies. The State Department notice did not specify which entities were added but provided a full list of restricted entities.