El presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, firmó hoy una orden ejecutiva por la que prohíbe “todas las transacciones” con “cualquier moneda digital” emitida por el Gobierno venezolano, en alusión a la criptomoneda impulsada por las autoridades venezolanas, conocida como “petro”.
“La Orden Ejecutiva prohíbe, a partir de su fecha de vigencia, todas las transacciones relacionadas, la provisión de financiación y otras transacciones por una persona de Estados Unidos o dentro de Estados Unidos, con cualquier moneda digital que haya sido emitida por, para o en nombre del Gobierno de Venezuela a partir del 9 de enero de 2018”, reza la orden, anunciada por la Casa Blanca.
En el texto, Trump argumenta haber tomado la decisión “a la luz de las recientes medidas adoptadas por el régimen de Maduro para intentar eludir las sanciones” con la emisión de una moneda digital, en un proceso que “la Asamblea Nacional elegida democráticamente por Venezuela ha denunciado como ilegal”.
Con el respaldo de las reservas de crudo, el presidente venezolano, Nicolás Maduro, lanzó la criptomoneda el mes pasado para ampliar el capital del país ahogado por la crisis y para eludir las sanciones financieras impuestas por Estados Unidos.
El senador demócrata Bob Menéndez y el republicano Marco Rubio, de los más activos contra el Gobierno de Venezuela en el Congreso estadounidense, advirtieron a Trump sobre las consecuencias de la criptomoneda poco después de ser anunciada por Maduro.
Ambos senadores, altos miembros del Comité de Relaciones Exteriores del Senado, mandaron una carta al secretario del Tesoro, Steven Mnuchin, para conocer los mecanismos con los que cuenta el Gobierno estadounidense “para combatir” la criptomoneda, lo que se ha traducido al menos en la prohibición emitida hoy.
El presidente venezolano anunció la emisión de 100 millones de “petros” a comienzos de año, una unidad que Maduro ha presentado como “la criptomoneda de Venezuela” y que equivale al valor del barril de petróleo del país caribeño en el mercado internacional; así como “la activación y el uso de las casas de cambio virtuales conocidas como los ‘exchange’”.
Desde que Trump llegó hace algo más de un año a la Casa Blanca, el Gobierno de EE.UU. ha sancionado a una veintena de dirigentes chavistas, entre ellos al propio Maduro y a su vicepresidente, Tareck El Aissami, reseñó EFE
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,
I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, in order to take additional steps with respect to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13692 of March 8, 2015, and relied upon for additional steps taken in Executive Order 13808 of August 24, 2017, and in light of recent actions taken by the Maduro regime to attempt to circumvent U.S. sanctions by issuing a digital currency in a process that Venezuela’s democratically elected National Assembly has denounced as unlawful, hereby order as follows:
Section 1. (a) All transactions related to, provision of financing for, and other dealings in, by a United States person or within the United States, any digital currency, digital coin, or digital token, that was issued by, for, or on behalf of the Government of Venezuela on or after January 9, 2018, are prohibited as of the effective date of this order.
(b) The prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section apply except to the extent provided by statutes, or in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding any contract entered into or any license or permit granted before the effective date of this order.
Sec. 2. (a) Any transaction that evades or avoids, has the purpose of evading or avoiding, causes a violation of, or attempts to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.
(b) Any conspiracy formed to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.
Sec. 3. For the purposes of this order:
(a) the term “person” means an individual or entity;
(b) the term “entity” means a partnership, association, trust, joint venture, corporation, group, subgroup, or other organization;
(c) the term “United States person” means any United States citizen, permanent resident alien, entity organized under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States (including foreign branches of such entities), or any person within the United States; and
(d) the term “Government of Venezuela” means the Government of Venezuela, any political subdivision, agency, or instrumentality thereof, including the Central Bank of Venezuela and Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA), and any person owned or controlled by, or acting for or on behalf of, the Government of Venezuela.
Sec. 4. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized to take such actions, including promulgating rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the President by IEEPA as may be necessary to implement this order. The Secretary of the Treasury may, consistent with applicable law, redelegate any of these functions to other officers and executive departments and agencies of the United States Government. All agencies of the United States Government shall take all appropriate measures within their authority to carry out the provisions of this order.
Sec. 5. For those persons whose property and interests in property are affected by this order who might have a constitutional presence in the United States, I find that because of the ability to transfer funds or other assets instantaneously, prior notice to such persons of measures taken pursuant to this order would render those measures ineffectual. I therefore determine that for these measures to be effective in addressing the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13692, there need be no prior notice given for implementation of this order.
Sec. 6. This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
Sec. 7. This order is effective at 12:15 p.m. eastern daylight time on March 19, 2018.
DONALD J. TRUMP