The United States Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said on Wednesday that it sanctioned 21 Venezuelan officials "for being current or former officials of the Government of Venezuela" and for their ties with Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro.

According to the US Treasury Department, the security and cabinet-level officials who were sanctioned today have backed and executed Maduro's directives to suppress civil society in his attempt to "fraudulently" claim victory in Venezuela's July 28 presidential election despite the majority of voters choosing Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as their next president.

"Maduro and his representatives' repressive actions in the wake of the Venezuelan presidential election are a desperate attempt to silence the voices of its citizens. The United States will continue to shine a light on those who seek to use violence and intimidation to undermine democratic governance and the legitimate exercise of free speech," Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley Smith said.