The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Jan. 17 deleted nine Guatemala-related entries on its Specially Designated Nationals List, including entries relating to the Guatemalan Nickel Company, also known as Compania Guatemalteca de Niquel. The entity was designated in 2022 for being a subsidiary of Russia-based Solway Investment group, which OFAC said has “exploited” Guatemalan mines for years. The agency didn’t provide more information on the reasons for the delistings.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Alberto Pimentel Mata, Guatemala’s former energy and mining minister, for exploiting the country’s mining sector through “widespread bribery schemes” involving government contracts and mining licenses. OFAC said he reportedly accepted “large” monthly payments in exchange for certain permits, took bribes in exchange for accepting contracting bids, retaliated against companies that didn’t bribe him and more. The agency said Pimentel resigned from the government in July last year.
The State Department gathered an undisclosed “group of countries” last week to “strategize” on ways to curb the supply of parts to Iranian drones, a department official said Jan. 17.
The U.S. this week announced plans to designate the Yemen-based Houthis as a terrorist organization, which will subject them to strict financial sanctions that will restrict their access to funding and financial markets, the White House said Jan. 17. The designation comes after months of Houthi-led attacks on commercial ships transiting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden (see 2401030065 and 2401050066), which National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said “fit the textbook definition of terrorism.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week unveiled a new set of changes to its voluntary self-disclosure policies that it hopes will allow compliance professionals to spend more time and money preventing serious export violations and less resources on reporting minor ones. The agency also said it has seen a sharp uptick in self-disclosures of serious violations over the last year and has been getting more tips from businesses about possible violations committed by their competitors.
The U.K. on Jan. 15 corrected one entry under its Russia sanctions regime, one under its Belarus sanctions regime and two entries its ISIL (Da'esh) and al-Qaida sanctions regime.
The European Commission is urging anyone with information on Russia- or Belarus-related sanctions evasion to submit tips under its online EU sanctions whistleblower tool (see 2203080030). The online tool allows whistleblowers to submit reports anonymously, the bloc said in a Jan. 14 post on the social media platform X.
The European Council last week established a new sanctions regime to target parties undermining democracy in Guatemala following the nation's 2023 elections. The regime will allow the EU to impose restrictions on people and entities "responsible for actions that undermine democracy, the rule of law and a peaceful transfer of power in Guatemala," the council said. Examples of sanctionable activity include intimidating public officials and "financial misconduct concerning public funds and the unauthorised export of capital."
The European Council added one person to the EU Terrorist List for his role in leading the Oct. 7 attack against Israel, the council announced. Yahia Sinouar, the political leader of Hamas, is now subject to an asset freeze, and EU operators are no longer allowed to make economic resources available to him.
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., urged USDA and the Treasury Department to review how Chinese businessman Chen Tianqiao was able to buy almost 200,000 acres of Oregon farmland in 2015 without disclosing the purchase to the federal government.