The U.S. and several South American countries on Tuesday sharpened their stance toward Venezuela’s government, with Washington imposing sanctions on the country’s first lady and three top officials as the country’s neighbors ready a push for an international investigation into its alleged crimes against humanity.
President Trump called the situation in Venezuela—where hyperinflation, spreading hunger and the government’s growing authoritarianism is forcing millions to flee—a “human tragedy” during his speech before the United Nations General Assembly. He urged other countries to join in ratcheting up pressure against “a repressive regime.”
Mr. Trump’s comments followed new legislation from a bipartisan group of senators that would grant more $50 million toward efforts to restore democracy in Venezuela, most of it for humanitarian assistance. The proposal would also expand sanctions on Venezuelan government officials, codify U.S. measures targeting Venezuela’s oil-backed cryptocurrency and require the U.S. State Department to encourage Latin American governments to establish their own sanctions programs.
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Miraflores Palace/Associated Press
President Nicolás Maduro, who last week said he wouldn’t attend the U.N. summit because he feared for his life, dismissed the new round of sanctions, calling them part of a Washington-led conspiracy to destabilize his leftist administration.
“I’m surrounded by sanctioned people,” Mr. Maduro said in a televised address. “Thank you, Donald Trump, for surrounding me with so much dignity.”
Mr. Maduro and his allies have accused critics of trying to provoke military intervention.
In remarks to reporters following his speech, Mr. Trump didn’t rule out a military option against the Maduro administration. While declining to answer questions on whether any military plan existed, he said: “It’s a regime that, frankly, could be toppled very quickly by the military, if the military decides to do that.”
Mr. Trump also referred to members of the Venezuelan armed forces seen on video running last month from a military parade where Mr. Maduro survived a purported assassination attempt using drones packed with bombs.
“That military was running for cover,” he said. “That’s not good. I don’t think the Marines would have run.”
Tuesday’s actions against Venezuela reflect how concerned and frustrated countries are with the government in Caracas, said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director for the New York-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch. “All of this is very revealing of the political isolation of the government of Maduro and their lack of legitimacy,” he said.
The U.S. on Tuesday added Cilia Flores, Mr. Maduro’s wife, to its list of sanctioned individuals, as well as Vice President Delcy Rodríguez; Jorge Rodríguez, the communications minister; and Vladimir Padrino, the defense minister.
The U.S. also identified a Gulfstream private jet in Florida as blocked property, saying the aircraft was bought for $20 million in 2008 by a blacklisted frontman of a top Maduro ally, also under U.S. sanctions, through a hidden ownership network. The U.S. on Tuesday also put that ownership network on its sanctions list.
The sanctions freeze the targets’ American assets, and U.S. persons and companies are barred from engaging in transactions with them. Foreign financial institutions also generally abide by U.S. sanctions, further squeezing the U.S. targets.
Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay and Peru are preparing a petition requesting that The Hague-based International Criminal Court—best known for prosecuting dozens of African rights violators including Libyan Col. Moammar Gadhafi and Congolese warlords—investigate the Venezuelan government, according to people familiar with the matter. It would be the first such effort by signatory nations to initiate action against another ICC signatory, Mr. Vivanco said. The ICC didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The ICC launched a preliminary examination in February into human-rights abuses in Venezuela, looking into crimes allegedly committed by the government since April 2017. A submission by Venezuela’s South American neighbors would escalate the matter.
The planned petition follows a report in May by the Organization of American States that found “reasonable grounds” to believe crimes against humanity were committed in Venezuela. The report cited nearly 8,300 extrajudicial executions since 2015 and more than 12,000 arbitrary detentions during waves of deadly street protests that have rocked Venezuela since Mr. Maduro won elections in 2013.
His reelection in May to a six-year term drew international scorn as a farce.
Venezuela’s economy has collapsed under Mr. Maduro, leading to an exodus of destitute and hungry people. While Venezuelans struggle with inflation estimated to reach 1,000,000% this year, Mr. Maduro has barred humanitarian aid and his government has come up with few economic solutions, recently issuing a new currency, named the “sovereign bolivar,” that shaved off five zeroes.
Millions are fleeing to other countries, leading to a backlash across South America. Colombian police commanders say they are overrun by Venezuelan migrants, who number more than 1 million in that country alone.
U.S. officials say they have considered leveling tougher sanctions on Venezuela’s lifeblood oil industry. But fears of a complete economic meltdown have limited policy makers to focusing on targeted sanctions on more than 60 Venezuelan government officials, who have been accused of a host of human-rights abuses and corruption.
All four of the latest additions to the U.S. blacklist were already sanctioned earlier this year by Canada, which has joined others including the European Union, Switzerland and Panama in targeting allegedly corrupt Venezuelan officials.
Their long absence from the U.S. list, however, had raised speculation among Venezuela watchers that Washington was trying to provoke divisions among officials in Caracas and seek negotiations, said David Smilde, a senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America, a think tank.
“It would seem that they have given up on the hope that [those Venezuelan officials] will facilitate a transition,” Mr. Smilde said, warning that more sanctions could also backfire. “Adding more people to the list simply provides officials with a sense of common cause and unifies them more,” he added.
Write to Samuel Rubenfeld at samuel.rubenfeld@wsj.com and Kejal Vyas at kejal.vyas@wsj.com