Clashes between opposition protesters and the Bolivarian National Guard in Barquisimeto, Venezuela last month. Venezuelan bond prices tumbled Wednesday as traders grappled with the prospect that U.S. sanctions could restrict trading in the troubled South American nation’s securities. The Trump administration is considering banning trading by U.S. banks of new debt issued by Venezuela or its state-owned entities, and possibly some existing debt, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. The move is aimed at weakening a government that Washington says has moved toward dictatorship, according to a senior administration official. The U.S. Treasury has targeted foreign financial markets before. In 2014, it barred U.S. financial institutions from participating in new bond sales by Russia meant to raise money for the government, a move that had the effect of reducing the availability of dollar funding for the country. But some moves under consideration are seen as extremely rare and […]