US sanctions Venezuela's foreign minister, top judge who is Maduro aide

The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza, saying it would pursue those in President Nicolas Maduro’s government for corruption as well as officials conducting diplomacy on his behalf.

Arreaza and a judge in the Court of Appeals for Caracas, Carol Padilla, were targeted in the latest round of US sanctions against Maduro’s government over the crisis in Venezuela, the Treasury Department said.

Washington blames Maduro for the country’s economic collapse and for undermining democracy. The Trump administration recognized Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaido as the South American nation’s interim president and has asked Maduro, a socialist