While previous iterations of President Donald Trump’s travel ban focused on Muslim-majority nations, the new travel restrictions announced Sunday included two non-Muslim-majority additions: North Korea and Venezuela. Notably, the new order argues that while it’s possible to obtain information on Venezuelan citizens through means outside its government, Venezuelan officials themselves have been uncooperative.
Therefore, only the government has been banned. Relations between Venezuela and the U.S. have been deteriorating since the 1990s. Venezuela broke off diplomatic relations with the U.S. in 2008, and the U.S. declared the country a national security threat in 2015. President Trump earlier this year warned that a “military option” was on the table and slapped sanctions on the Latin American nation.
