The U.S. administration is trying to pressure foreign commodity traders and refiners to suspend their trades with Venezuelan oil in the latest push against the Maduro government. The information comes from unnamed sources that spoke to Reuters. Such deals are not covered by the latest U.S. sanctions, which is why, apparently, Washington is contacting the buyers directly. According to the sources, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control had told the traders and refiners that any sort of a deal, be it direct, indirect, or even a barter deal, would be punished as a breach of sanctions despite these only concerning U.S. entities. “This is how the United States operates these days. They have written rules and then they call you to explain that there are also unwritten rules that they want you to follow,” one of the sources said. The Trump administration is prioritizing the suspension of sales […]