U.S. sanctions No. 2 official in Venezuela’s Socialist party

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions against the No. 2 official in Venezuela's Socialist Party, Diosdado Cabello, his wife and brother, and a businessman with properties in the United States as Washington increases pressure on senior Venezuelan officials for their role in the country's political and economics crisis.

The U.S. Treasury accused Cabello, a former president of the country's national assembly, of money laundering and direct involvement in trafficking narcotics from Venezuela through the Dominican Republican to Europe.

It also imposed sanctions on his brother, Jose David Cabello, accusing him of "extorting money for personal gains," and Marleny Josefina Contreras, who heads the country's tourism institute and is married to Diosdado Cabello.

Additionally, the U.S. Treasury blacklisted businessman Rafael Alfredo Sarria Diaz, and blocked his three companies in Florida, 11420 Corp, Noor Plantation Investments LLC and SAI Advisors Inc.

"The Venezuelan people suffer under corrupt politicians who tighten their grip on power while lining their own pockets," U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

"We are imposing costs on figures like Diosdado Cabello who exploit their official positions to engage in narcotics trafficking, money laundering, embezzlement of state funds, and other corrupt activities," he added.

The latest sanctions come ahead of Sunday's presidential election in which leftist President Nicolas Maduro is widely expected to win a six-year term amid a boycott by the opposition. The international community has called on Maduro to suspend the election.

Washington has used sanctions to pressure Maduro's government, cutting off its access to the financial system and restricting travel by senior officials.

Maduro has blamed U.S. President Donald Trump for the deep recession and hyperinflation that has caused food shortages in Venezuela and send an exodus of migrants into neighboring countries.

(Reporting by Tim Ahmann and Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Richard Chang)

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