In furtherance of its pressure campaign against Nicolas Maduro’s illegitimate government, the U.S. and its allies in the Americas, Asia, and Europe should sanction Venezuelan military officers, including junior ranks, who are preventing aid from reaching Venezuelan soil.

Sanctions would be justified for two moral reasons. First, because the only legitimate democratic authority to accept or reject the U.S. aid is interim president Juan Guaido. He has accepted the aid while calling on the military to reject Maduro’s diktats. Second, because the Venezuelan people are in desperate need of the aid. This is not a concern for fatso Maduro and his cronies. They spend Venezuela’s shrinking wealth reserves in the world’s finest restaurants. But Venezuela’s children are starving, and adults are going without basic medicines. The consequence is immense human suffering.