US imposes sanctions on Chinese firm over alleged role in Venezuela internet crackdown

Amid the growing differences between the United States and China, the former has once again slapped sanctions on a Chinese firm China National Electronics Import & Export Corporation (CEIEC) for curbing Venezuela's internet services. The US also accused China of supporting President Nicolas Maduro's efforts to undermine democracy in Venezuela.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, while declaring the sanctions, said that the Chinese firm provides cyber support and technical experts to state-run telecommunications providers that regularly block online autonomous newspapers and speeches by opposition members.

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US sanctions CEIEC for supporting the illegitimate Maduro regime

"Today, the United States is sanctioning CEIEC for supporting the illegitimate Maduro regime's efforts to undermine democracy in Venezuela. These efforts include restricting internet service and conducting digital surveillance against political opponents of the regime. CEIEC has provided software, training, and technical expertise to the regime's entities," Pompeo said in a statement.

Adding further, Pompeo said that the firm also provides cyber support and technical experts to state-run telecommunications provider Venezuelan National Telephone Company, CANTV. The telecom firm controls 70 percent of internet service in Venezuela and frequently blocks online independent newspapers and speeches by opposition members, he added.

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CEIEC helping Maduro regime?

Moreover, the US Department of Treasury alleged that since 2017 CEIEC has been helping the Maduro regime's malicious cyber efforts. It provides technical expertise to Venezuelan government entities against the people of the country, the Treasury Department added.

"The illegitimate Maduro regime's reliance on entities like CEIEC to advance its authoritarian agenda further illustrates the regime's prioritization of power over democratic values and processes," said US Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin.

Treasury Department, in a statement, said that non-democratic governments use Beijing exported technologies such as those CEIEC has provided to suppress political dissent within their own borders. CEIEC has been assisting the Maduro regime's malicious cyber efforts since 2017 and has provided software, technical expertise and training to Venezuela government entities, which was then used against the people of Venezuela, the statement added.

The US authorities maintained the Maduro regime has frequently shown its willingness to suppress its citizens' democratic rights and intimidate them from expressing their political views. Meanwhile, the suite of software and hardware that CEIEC provided Venezuela is a commercialised version of China's Great Firewall - a nationwide system of web blocks and filters, used to maintain strict online censorship, the statement said.

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(With ANI inputs)