President Obama Blocks Property and Prohibits Entry into the U.S. of Seven Venezuelan Officials

On March 9, 2015, President Barack Obama, pursuant to 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.) (NEA), the Venezuela Defense of Human, Rights and Civil Society Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-278) (the "Venezuela Defense of Human Rights Act") (the "Act"), section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)) (INA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, found that the situation in Venezuela, including the Government of Venezuela's erosion of human rights guarantees, persecution of political opponents, curtailment of press freedoms, use of violence and human rights violations and abuses in response to antigovernment protests, and arbitrary arrest and detention of antigovernment protestors, as well as the exacerbating presence  of significant public corruption, constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, and thereby declared a national emergency to deal with that threat.