Washington: The Trump administration is broadening sanctions against Venezuela, blacklisting four government officials and banning a digital currency President Nicolás Maduro created last month to circumvent financial sanctions on his economically strapped nation.

The White House said the new measures were intended to send a message to Maduro's government, which it has accused of corruption and repression, that the United States remains focused on the economic devastation in Venezuela, and holds the country's president and his associates directly responsible for creating the conditions there.

The nation is in the throes of food and medicine shortages and a collapse of the health system as well as other government services.

"President Maduro decimated the Venezuelan economy and spurred a humanitarian crisis," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement announcing the newly blacklisted individuals. Mnuchin cited the individuals for "economic mismanagement and corruption" and blasted an attempt by the Maduro government to evade sanctions through the creation of a new digital currency known as the Petro.

"Instead of correcting course to avoid further catastrophe, the Maduro regime is attempting to circumvent sanctions through the Petro digital currency — a ploy that Venezuela's democratically elected National Assembly has denounced and Treasury has cautioned US persons to avoid," he said.