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As Prepared for Delivery 

Minister Haddad, it was a pleasure meeting with you earlier this week, and I am very glad that we are jointly announcing the launch of the Brazil Fazenda-U.S. Treasury Climate Partnership today.

This announcement draws on our two countries’ long history.  There are deep ties between the United States and Brazil, including a strong trade and investment relationship.  Our countries also share a commitment to sustainable and inclusive development, recognizing that, as the two largest economies in the Western Hemisphere, advancing work on climate and on nature and biodiversity can bring benefits not only to both of our economies but also to the region and to the global economy.

Today’s announcement also builds on significant efforts of teams at Treasury and Fazenda in recent years.  Since the start of the Biden Administration, we have worked to increase collaboration with Brazil on shared priorities related to climate and the environment.  Brazil has put these issues at the top of the agenda for its G20 Presidency, and we have together pursued ambitious work, including through the multilateral development banks and climate funds.  We are also strengthening coordination to disrupt illicit finance from nature crimes.  This spring, we further deepened our commitment to collaboration in the aftermath of the unprecedented flooding in Rio Grande do Sul [“HEE-oh GRAN-jee do SU”].  It was one of far too many recent tragedies that reveals the grave threat that climate change and the loss of nature and biodiversity poses to lives, livelihoods, and economies around the world.

Our new partnership also builds on work we have each been pursuing.  In the United States, the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law are making our infrastructure more resilient, supporting investments in conservation, and driving growth in clean energy industries.  Treasury is leading the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act and pursuing many other actions, including launching the Principles for Net-Zero Financing and Investment last fall and the Principles for Responsible Participation in Voluntary Carbon Markets, with other U.S. federal agencies, this spring.

Brazil is meanwhile pursuing a wide range of policies and investments that showcase how an emerging market can conserve natural resources, protect biodiversity, adapt to a changing climate, and build clean manufacturing.  Fazenda, like Treasury, is playing a leading role at home, including in implementing Brazil’s Ecological Transformation Plan, from designing innovative green investment platforms to launching new carbon market designs.

Our long history, recent joint work, and complementary agendas mean we see much to gain from additional coordinated and collaborative action.  With this partnership, we now plan to work together bilaterally and multilaterally to address today’s most pressing environmental challenges and strengthen the region’s green economy.

Our work will be focused in four key areas.

First, we intend to work to bolster our clean energy supply chains, including by developing policy tools that crowd in private sector investment.

Second, we intend to support efforts to improve the integrity and effectiveness of voluntary carbon markets, including through holding technical exchanges.

Third, we intend to work to mobilize finance and develop innovative solutions to conserve and restore nature and biodiversity, including through the multilateral development banks and multilateral climate funds.

And fourth, we are committed to joint work to facilitate countries’ ease of access to multilateral climate fund resources by working to simplify and harmonize process, increase ambition, and mobilize private finance.

Across these and other areas, we will benefit from each other’s leadership and expertise.  So let me thank Minister Haddad for our ongoing and future collaboration.  I look forward to the joint work ahead.

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The flooding in Rio Grande do Sul that began in late April had a devastating impact across southern Brazil. We express our condolences to the families of those who died in this disaster and recognize that the Brazilian government is working hard to help the hundreds of thousands of people that remain displaced. The recognition of the grave environmental and climate crises faced by all nations is part of the motivation for our coming together to address climate change, and to leverage the opportunities doing so presents for supporting just transitions and economic development.

Since early last year, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and the Brazilian Ministry of Finance (Fazenda) have implemented unprecedented measures to align their institutions with the best environmental and climate policies. Senior officials from both organizations have convened on several occasions, united by a common commitment to advancing inclusive economic development, preserving the environment, promoting regional integration, and advancing democratic values and social justice. The U.S. Treasury and Fazenda proudly announce the Brazil Fazenda – U.S. Treasury Climate Partnership (the Climate Partnership). In doing so, we jointly recognize:

Brazil’s bold plans to safeguard its natural capital, and its leadership in the global fight against climate change and environmental destruction.

From innovative sustainable investment platforms to new and cross-cutting green legislation, Fazenda is leading the government’s implementation of the Ecological Transformation Plan (ETP) and is demonstrating the critical role of finance ministries in addressing climate change and protecting the environment. The ETP is projected to raise Brazil’s GDP by 2 percent by 2030, and to generate millions of new jobs.

Brazil is a top 10 world economy with over 90 percent carbon-free electricity generation and a caretaker of vast ecological resources, and it is poised to serve as an example of how emerging market and developing economies can contribute to mitigating and adapting to the effects of climate change and conserving nature and biodiversity, while fostering social development, productivity increases, and reindustrialization through smart investment and policy decisions. Brazil has prioritized sustainable and climate finance as part of its Presidency of the G20 (particularly through the Sustainable Finance Working Group and the Task Force for the Global Mobilization against Climate Change), and Brazil and the United States plan to continue to cooperate to achieve ambitious outcomes in the G20.

The United States’ historic policy innovations that are driving substantial financial commitments to protect nature and to invest in its green economy.

The Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law are transforming the U.S. economy, mobilizing hundreds of billions of dollars in clean power investments by the private sector. The laws aim for a just transition, and helped create over 170,000 clean energy jobs in their first year in effect, especially in low-income communities. These investments are helping to drive down the costs of new technologies globally, for the benefit of countries around the world. These laws have also helped channel over $10 billion of investment into conservation initiatives, protecting more than 41 million acres of land and water in just a little over three years as part of the goal of conserving 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.

We are stronger together.

Global action to mitigate climate change, adapt to the effects of a changing climate and build resilience, and conserve natural resources and protect biodiversity requires collaboration. Brazil and the United States have a deep economic relationship through trade and investment and share a commitment to sustainable, inclusive development. We both recognize that climate and development go hand in hand and, when well-designed, are mutually reinforcing and serve as catalysts for economic growth. The United States and Brazil are also deeply committed to the sustainable development of Latin America more broadly, including through leading work to evolve the multilateral development banks and the climate finance architecture.

Today, on the margins of the G20 Finance Minister and Central Bank Governor Meetings in [Rio], Fazenda and Treasury renew their intention to work together—bilaterally and multilaterally—to address today’s most pressing environmental challenges and advance the coordination and integration of our national and regional sustainable and resilient economies through this new partnership across four pillars: (1) clean energy supply chains; (2) high-integrity carbon markets; (3) nature and biodiversity finance; and (4) the multilateral climate funds.

The Climate Partnership will help to develop policies and drive reforms at international institutions where both countries are shareholders, so that global public and private capital is more efficiently and effectively deployed to address today’s most pressing environmental challenges, including for clean energy technologies, building resilience of value chains, fostering high-integrity carbon markets, and conserving forests and biodiversity. We intend to leverage our bilateral work in multilateral forums such as the G20; Annual Meetings of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and other International Financial Institutions; the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action; and at the meetings of the conferences of the parties to multilateral environmental agreements and their financial mechanisms.

We plan to jointly support enhancing the complementarity, coherence, and ambition of the climate finance architecture—including the Climate Investment Funds (CIFs), Global Environment Facility (GEF), Adaptation Fund (AF), and Green Climate Fund (GCF)—to improve access to finance for emerging markets and developing countries and to mobilize public and private finance. We plan to work to continue to prioritize climate related action and to create continuity across our G20 Presidencies, including through engagement with the incoming 2025 South African Presidency.

Key Pillars of the Climate Partnership

1. Clean energy supply chains. We acknowledge the substantial financing requirements needed to finance the climate transitions in both our countries and globally, and are working together to develop policy tools that crowd in private sector investment to diversify global supply chains, support advancement and deployment of clean technologies at scale, and to finance renewables manufacturing, low-carbon hydrogen, and biofuels, among other areas. Fazenda and Treasury have engaged in policy dialogues and are working to mobilize institutions, such as our Development Finance Institutions, to better understand how innovative tools can support more rapid private investment to better integrate clean energy supply chains, including recent measures from Brazil’s Ecological Transformation Plan and the United States’ Inflation Reduction Act.

   In line with the U.S.-Brazil Partnership for Workers’ Rights, Fazenda and Treasury recognize the importance of protecting the environment, the rights of workers, vulnerable and exposed communities, and indigenous peoples, and promoting clean energy supply chain resilience.

2. High-integrity carbon markets. We jointly recognize the role transparent and well- functioning carbon markets, including voluntary carbon markets, can play in meeting global climate change goals. High-integrity carbon markets can be a source of capital for technologies and practices essential for the climate transition, including carbon removals, nature-based decarbonization, and protecting natural resources. We respect each other’s approaches, including how benefits are allocated and shared in each country. We both strongly support efforts to improve the integrity and effectiveness of carbon markets and are sharing best practices. We also support multilateral initiatives in the appropriate fora, including the G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group, that could lead to the development of global voluntary carbon market integrity principles.

3. Nature and biodiversity finance. We strongly support efforts to mobilize finance and develop innovative solutions to conserve and restore nature and biodiversity, including at the multilateral development banks and environmental trust funds. Public funds are important for leveraging private capital to support these objectives. We applaud the U.S. Department of State’s initial contribution to the Amazon Fund, that will help protect tropical rainforests in Brazil and across the region, and acknowledge the United States’ intention to fulfill President Biden’s $500 million pledge to the Amazon Fund made last year. We plan to continue to work together with a view towards mobilizing finance to support ecosystems, which will include discussions on Brazil’s proposal for a Tropical Forest Financing Facility.

   We recognize the 2010 debt-for-nature swap between the United States and Brazil under the Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA), and applaud the conservation efforts made leveraging this innovative financial instrument. Drawing on lessons learned from TFCA, Fazenda and Treasury intend to work to derive best practices for debt-for-nature swaps to inform global policies ahead of the COP30/CMA7 meetings next year.

4. Multilateral climate funds. Fazenda and Treasury are working to promote concrete steps to facilitate emerging market and developing economies’ ease of access to multilateral climate funds resources, especially for the most vulnerable countries. Acknowledging the work of the Independent High-level Expert Group on the Vertical Climate and Environmental Funds in the G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group, we are working to simplify and harmonize processes, where possible, and advance ambition in areas that are shared priorities, such as private capital mobilization and nature-based solutions financing, while reinforcing their connection with the countries’ needs and priorities. We applaud the multilateral climate funds’ initiative to present a draft Action Plan to their respective governing bodies and look forward to a robust final Action Plan at COP29/CMA6 that delivers on the needs of developing countries to improve access to climate finance.

   We are collaborating to shape the strategic direction of the CIF, by supporting the launch of the CIF Capital Markets Mechanism that will fund a new generation of investment plans for critical areas of clean technology deployment. In parallel, Fazenda and Treasury are exploring opportunities, including for Brazil, for the CIF Clean Technology Fund’s Futures Window— supported by the $568M loan contribution from the United States to the Fund made in 2023— to advance industry decarbonization and clean technology investments aligned with national priorities.

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As Prepared for Delivery 

It is a pleasure to meet with Minister Godongwana at this G20 to discuss our shared international economic priorities as we look ahead to South Africa’s G20 host year in 2025 and the United States host year in 2026.

The G20 is a crucial forum for the world’s largest economies to collaborate on initiatives that improve the lives of people around the world.  I appreciate the importance of having major emerging market countries chair this forum—as Indonesia, India, and now Brazil have done in recent years—and I look forward to South Africa’s 2025 presidency.

The G20 has been making progress on areas of importance to both our countries, including health, debt, climate, and Multilateral Development Bank evolution.  South Africa has been a valuable partner in all these areas. 

It is now a key moment to discuss how our two countries can work together to make more progress through the G20 on these issues, now and as we look ahead to consider efforts during each of our upcoming presidencies.

Earlier this week I attended the launch event for the Pandemic Fund’s Investment Case and announced that the U.S. intends to pledge up to $667 million through 2026 to bolster countries’ pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response.  The Pandemic Fund is a product of the G20 Joint Finance-Health Task Force, and I am glad that South Africa was an early supporter and that health continues to be a shared priority. 

Treasury will also continue to participate in multilateral discussions with South Africa on debt, especially regarding situations where countries facing debt pressures are experiencing challenges accessing needed financing.  We hope to work with South African counterparts to further the goals laid out in the Nairobi-Washington Vision Statement so that borrowing countries facing significant debt repayments but making important policy reforms have the resources to make vital investments in sustainable development and climate.

Treasury will also continue its work with South Africa on advancing the Just Energy Transition Partnership to help facilitate South Africa’s green energy transformation and support improving the reliability of its domestic energy.                    

I very much look forward to discussing these and other priorities today.

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United States targets armed group leaders who fuel conflict, displacement

WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on the Congo River Alliance, known by its French name Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), a coalition of rebel groups that seeks to overthrow the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and is driving political instability, violent conflict, and civilian displacement. The principal member of AFC is the U.S.- and UN-sanctioned March 23 Movement (M23), an armed group with a long history of destabilizing the DRC’s North Kivu province and perpetrating human rights abuses. OFAC is also targeting individuals and entities associated with AFC, including Bertrand Bisimwa, the president of M23; Twirwaneho, an AFC-affiliated armed group in the DRC’s South Kivu province; and Charles Sematama, a commander and deputy military leader of Twirwaneho. 

“Today’s action reinforces our commitment to hold accountable those who seek to perpetuate instability, violence, and harm to civilians to achieve their political goals,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. “We condemn AFC and its affiliates, including M23, for fueling this deadly conflict and exacerbating a humanitarian crisis in eastern DRC.”

In addition, OFAC is redesignating Corneille Yobeluo Nangaa (Nangaa), who launched AFC alongside the leaders of M23. Nangaa is the former president of the DRC’s National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI) and was originally sanctioned by OFAC in 2019 for engaging in actions or policies that undermine democratic processes or institutions in the DRC. Today, he is also being sanctioned for acting as a leader of AFC. The designation of AFC and its affiliates and the redesignation of Nangaa are being carried out pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13413, as amended by E.O. 13671.

CONGO RIVER ALLIANCE: A Driver of Political INSTABILITY IN Eastern DRC

The Congo River Alliance (Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC)) is a political-military coalition that seeks to overthrow the DRC government. At its launch on December 15, 2023, AFC invited armed groups and members of the Congolese military to join its rebellion. AFC conducts advocacy and public outreach on behalf of M23 and seeks to extend its armed insurgency beyond eastern DRC. AFC is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13413, as amended by E.O. 13671 (“E.O. 13413, as amended”), for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of M23.

Corneille Yobeluo Nangaa (Nangaa) is the former president of CENI and was a key figure in the delay of the DRC’s 2016 elections, which were postponed until 2018. Nangaa is the coordinator of AFC, which he launched alongside senior M23 officers. Nangaa is engaging in efforts to popularize AFC and promote its goal of overthrowing the DRC government, in collaboration with M23. OFAC designated Nangaa on March 21, 2019, pursuant to E.O. 13413, as amended, for engaging in actions or policies that undermine democratic processes or institutions in the DRC. Today, OFAC is also designating Nangaa pursuant to E.O. 13413, as amended, for being a leader of AFC.

m23: A Rebellion at the center of recurring Violence in North Kivu

AFC’s primary member is M23, a Rwanda-backed rebel group that seized vast swathes of eastern DRC in 2012 and briefly controlled the border city of Goma, before fleeing to neighboring Rwanda and Uganda in 2013. OFAC designated M23 on January 3, 2013, pursuant to E.O. 13413, for committing serious violations of international law involving the targeting of children in situations of armed conflict in the DRC, including killing and maiming, sexual violence, abduction, and forced displacement, and receiving arms and related materiel, including military aircraft and equipment, or advice, training, or assistance, including financing and financial assistance, related to military activities in the DRC.

M23 reemerged in late 2021 with the help of the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF). In February 2024, M23 cut off the last remaining overland supply route to Goma, and in May 2024, M23 seized Rubaya, a town at the center of an expansive mining area for coltan, a key material used in the production of electronic devices. The security crisis prompted by M23’s rebellion has displaced around 1.5 million people according to the International Organization for Migration. Over the course of its rebellion, M23 has perpetrated human rights abuses, including killings, attacks against civilians, and sexual violence. On November 29, 2022, M23 conducted a series of killings in the town of Kishishe in North Kivu, where M23 combatants looted civilian property and raped women. Promoting accountability for conflict-related sexual violence committed by groups such as M23 is a top priority for President Biden, who signed a Presidential Memorandum on November 28, 2022 that directs the U.S. government to strengthen the exercise of its financial, diplomatic, and legal tools to address this pernicious problem.

Bertrand Bisimwa (Bisimwa) is the civilian president of M23. He stood alongside Nangaa at the launch of AFC and is central to AFC and M23’s collaboration. Bisimwa engages in public outreach on behalf of M23 and facilitates the establishment of rebel administrations in territories controlled by M23. Bisimwa is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13413, as amended, for being a leader of M23.

Twirwaneho: Extending AFC’s Rebellion TO South Kivu

Twirwaneho is an armed group in South Kivu province that is a member of AFC and collaborates with M23. The leader of Twirwaneho is Michel Rukunda (Rukunda), who was sanctioned by OFAC, along with other Congolese armed group leaders, on December 8, 2023 pursuant to E.O. 13413, as amended. In February 2024, the UN Security Council’s 1533 DRC Sanctions Committee also added Rukunda to its sanctions list. Twirwaneho is responsible for attacks against civilians and forced recruitment, including of minors. 

Twirwaneho is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13413, as amended, for being responsible for or complicit in, or having engaged in, directly or indirectly, the targeting of women, children, or any civilians through the commission of acts of violence (including killing, maiming, torture, or rape or other sexual violence), abduction, forced displacement, or attacks on schools, hospitals, religious sites, or locations where civilians are seeking refuge, or through conduct that would constitute a serious abuse or violation of human rights or a violation of international humanitarian law in or in relation to the DRC.

Charles Sematama (Sematama) is a commander and deputy military leader of Twirwaneho. Sematama deserted from the Congolese military in February 2021 and leads Twirwaneho operations, including the armed group’s forcible recruitment of minors. Sematama is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13413, as amended, for being a leader of Twirwaneho.

sANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS 

As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons.

In addition, the prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any designated person, or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.

The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC’s ability to designate and add persons to the SDN List, but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, please refer to OFAC’s Frequently Asked Question 897 here. For detailed information on the process to submit a request for removal from an OFAC sanctions list, please click here.

Click here for more information on the individuals and entities designated today. 

 

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Action Taken in Coordination with U.S., Mexican, and Guatemalan Partners

WASHINGTON — Today, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the Lopez Human Smuggling Organization (Lopez HSO), a transnational criminal organization (TCO) based in Guatemala. Human smuggling is a federal crime that includes bringing migrants into the United States illegally, as well as unlawfully transporting and harboring migrants already in the country. Working with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) components and other U.S. and foreign partners, OFAC sanctions aim to disrupt and ultimately dismantle these networks’ operations, which threaten the national security of the United States.

“The Lopez HSO sought to smuggle thousands of migrants into the United States through an illegal transnational operation that exploited those in search of a better life for themselves and their families,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. “Building off of our three actions against human smuggling operations just this month, Treasury, in coordination with our Mexican and Guatemalan partners and as part of our whole-of-government approach, will continue to disrupt the organizations and networks that seek to profit from these criminal activities.” 

Today’s action was conducted in close coordination with Homeland Security Investigations’ (HSI) El Paso Field Office, the Department of Justice (DOJ) Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico, the HSI Human Smuggling Unit, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s National Targeting Center, under the Extraterritorial Criminal Travel Strike Force program. Additionally, OFAC coordinated this action with the Government of Mexico, including La Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera (UIF), Mexico’s financial intelligence unit.

DISRUPTING THE LOPEZ HUMAN SMUGGLING ORGANIZATION (HSO)

Today, the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico also announced an indictment against the leader of the Lopez HSO, Ronaldo Galindo Lopez Escobar (Lopez Escobar), as well as his son, Whiskey Hans Lopez Ambrosio (Lopez Ambrosio), Lopez Ambrosio’s wife, Karen Stefany Hernandez Vanegas (Hernandez Vanegas), and five other individuals for conspiracy to transport and harbor illegal aliens. As part of this indictment, the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico also filed a criminal forfeiture order against Lopez Escobar pursuant to 8 U.S. Code § 1324 (bringing in and harboring certain aliens).

The Lopez HSO is led by Guatemalan nationals, Lopez Escobar, Lopez Ambrosio, and Hernandez Vanegas. Since about 2017, the organization has smuggled thousands of individuals from Guatemala, through Mexico, and into the United States. While the organization has operated primarily in New Mexico, Arizona, and California, their operations have also included parts of Texas, along with migrants being transported to Virginia and other states far from the U.S.-Mexico border.

In May 2023, a federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico returned an indictment against Lopez Escobar, and other individuals, for conspiracy to bring in, transport, and harbor illegal aliens. The following month, the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico and the Special Agent in Charge of HSI, El Paso, announced the unsealing of the indictment, as well as the arrest of six alleged human smugglers, in a coordinated, multistate enforcement operation that included arrests in Arizona and California. 

As part of its human smuggling operations, the Lopez HSO purchased fraudulent Mexican documents and paid cartel fees to facilitate the movement of migrants through Mexico. As their business grew, the organization acquired buses to transport greater numbers of migrants to the United States. In addition to the transport of individuals, the organization was responsible for operating stash houses along the Southwest Border where migrants were housed illegally. The leaders of the organization relied on several U.S. banks and money service businesses to receive payment from the family members of those being smuggled and to pay other members of the organization, located in Mexico and Guatemala, for their smuggling services.

OFAC’s action today sanctioned the Lopez HSO pursuant to Executive Order 13581, as amended by E.O. 13863 (hereafter, “E.O. 13581, as amended”), for being a foreign person that constitutes a significant TCO. OFAC sanctioned Lopez Escobar, Lopez Ambrosio, and Hernandez Vanegas pursuant to E.O. 13581, as amended, for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the Lopez HSO.

 

PREVIOUS TREASURY ACTIONS AGAINST HUMAN SMUGGLING ORGANIZATIONS

Today’s action builds on several actions that OFAC has taken in the last year to address the national security threat posed by human smuggling. On July 18, 2024, OFAC sanctioned the Abdul Karim Conteh Human Smuggling Organization, a Tijuana, Mexico-based HSO. On July 11, 2024, OFAC sanctioned Tren de Aragua,  a Venezuela-based TCO engaging in human smuggling and trafficking, gender-based violence, money laundering, illicit drug trafficking, and other criminal activities. On December 14, 2023, OFAC sanctioned the Malas Mañas TCO and several of its members. The Malas Mañas TCO is a human smuggling and narcotics trafficking organization based in Sonora, Mexico, with operations across the Southwest Border. Additionally, on June 16, 2023, OFAC sanctioned the Hernandez Salas TCO and its leader, among others. The Hernandez Salas TCO, based in Mexicali, Mexico, has facilitated thousands of illegal entries into the United States since at least 2018.  All of these actions were taken pursuant to E.O. 13581, as amended.

Furthermore, on January 13, 2023, FinCEN issued an alert providing trends, typologies, and red flag indicators to help financial institutions better identify and report transactions potentially related to human smuggling along the U.S. Southwest Border. This alert followed an increase in attempted illegal border crossings in 2021 and 2022.

SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS

As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons. U.S. persons may face civil or criminal penalties for violations of E.O. 13581, as amended.

In addition, financial institutions and other persons that engage in certain transactions or activities with the sanctioned entities and individuals may expose themselves to sanctions or be subject to an enforcement action. The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any designated person, or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person. 

The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC’s ability to designate and add persons to the SDN List, but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, please refer to OFAC’s Frequently Asked Question 897 here. For detailed information on the process to submit a request for removal from an OFAC sanctions list, please click here.

To view the chart on the individuals and entity designated today, click here.

For more information on the individuals and entity designated today, click here.

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Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are announcing key milestones reached as part of its ongoing transformation efforts made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), including continued progress to save Americans time and money by improving online and in person service and increasing tax fairness.

The updates highlighted today include the release of six new features for Individual Online Account, a new Spanish version of Business Tax Account, and additional business forms that can be filed electronically. In addition, the IRS announced reaching the milestone of 1 million submissions through the Document Upload Tool, the availability of more pop-up Taxpayer Assistance Centers to help taxpayers in underserved parts of the country, and the collection of more than $1 billion in past-due taxes from high-wealth taxpayers. 

NEW FEATURES, KEY MILESTONES REACED ON ONLINE DIGITAL TOOLS

Taxpayers deserve the same functionality in their online accounts that they experience with their bank or other financial institutions. As detailed in the Strategic Operating Plan, the IRS is transforming its operations so all taxpayers can interact with the agency digitally if they prefer. As part of this vision, taxpayers will be able to securely file all documents and respond to all notices online and securely access and download their data and account history . The IRS has hit or has in progress several milestones toward these goals:

• Respond to notices online hits 1 million uploads: 
• The IRS continues to expand the functionality of its online platforms, including several new features in Individual Online Account that give taxpayers the ability to:
  • Retrieve all their tax related information from one source, including Wage & Income, Account, Record of Account, and Return transcripts; 
  • Request an update to their Identity Protection (IP) PIN using their smartphones or tablets;
  • View information about the status of their audit around the clock, instead of having to call the IRS to obtain audit information; 
  • Use a Lien Payoff Calculator to access lien information, calculate their lien payoff amount, and generate a letter for download/print; 
  • Complete the Pending Installment Agreement process within Online Account without having to be re-routed to a separate application and 
  • View a comprehensive overview of their account information, including the status of their tax refund as it’s being processed. 
• With the latest expansion, Business Tax Account is now available in Spanish. In addition, business taxpayers can now see their balance due and make payments in one place. Previously, the balance due and payment page had to be viewed separately, unnecessarily complicating the payment process. Sole proprietors can also now download business entity transcripts from their Business Tax Account. This transcript shows entity information like business name, address, location address and more for the Employer Identification Number on file.
• File new returns electronically: Additional business Forms 940, 941, 943 and 945, including the Spanish version of Forms 941 and 943, can now be filed electronically. Through this improved process, IRS employees can now access taxpayer return information electronically when taxpayers request assistance, allowing them to provide more complete and accurate answers to taxpayer questions. In addition, the agency can now accept related electronic payments, minimizing errors typically associated with processing paper returns. Taxpayers can still choose to submit a paper version. 
• Use mobile-friendly forms: IRS now has a total of 30 forms available for mobile use, allowing taxpayers to fill out common non-tax forms on cell phones and tablet devices and digitally submit them. Taxpayers have submitted more than 72,000 mobile-friendly forms since the September 2023 launch. Providing taxpayers with common forms in this new format offers them a safe and fast way to electronically engage with the IRS. This can also help reduce mail and paper when they send forms to the IRS. Forms adapt to any screen size and ensure information is entered into all required data fields to reduce errors that delay processing. In addition, taxpayers can access five of these forms that require signatures in their Online Account, including: 
  • Form 13533 – VITA/TCE Partner Sponsor Agreement 
  • Form 13533-A – FSA Remote Sponsor Agreement 
  • Form 14039-B – Business Identity Theft Affidavit 
  • Form 12508 – Questionnaire for Non-Requesting Spouse 
  • Form 14157-A – Tax Return Preparer Fraud or Misconduct Affidavit 
• Simple Notice Initiative Progresses: The IRS has redesigned 100 of the most common notices that individual taxpayers receive, part of the ongoing work to prepare for the 2025 filing season as part of the Simple Notice Initiative. These notices make up about 90% of total notice volume sent to individual taxpayers, representing about 150 million notices sent to individual taxpayers in 2022. 

MORE IN-PERSON HELP OFFERED; SPECIAL PROGRAMS OFFERED IN UNDERSERVED AREAS

The IRS continues to focus on helping taxpayers get it right the first time, helping them to interact with the agency in the ways that work best for them on the phone, in-person and online. The IRS is expanding in-person service, particularly those in underserved and rural communities. 

During the filing season, IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers had a 37% increase in face-to-face contacts, with the IRS working with nearly 1.3 million for this calendar year through July 13. The IRS also received 2.7 million volunteer prepared returns to date compared to 2.5 million last year, an increase of 9.1%. 

This summer, the IRS is continuing its special series of pop-up Taxpayer Assistance Centers to give taxpayers living in areas far from the agency’s in-person offices an opportunity to meet face-to-face with IRS customer service representatives. These visits, which began last year with IRA funding, provide help for taxpayers who do not live within several hours of an IRS office. This summer’s Community Assistance Visits include:

• May 20-24, Roma, Texas 
• June 10-14, Humboldt, Iowa 
• June 24-28, Hazelhurst, Georgia 
• July 8-12, Orocovis, Puerto Rico 
• July 22-26, Gallup, New Mexico 
• 5-9, Thomasville, Alabama 
• 19-23, Great Bend, Kansas 
• 9-13, West Plains, Missouri 
• 23-27, Clarkston, Washington 
• 7-11, Fairbanks, Alaska 
• 21-25, Potsdam, New York 

More information on these locations will be available on IRS.gov closer to the event date.

MODERNIZING FOUNDATIONAL TECHNOLOGY

In addition to improvements to customer-facing technology, the IRS is modernizing decades-old systems and equipment: 

• Digitalization: The IRS continues to make significant progress scanning and electronically filing paper returns. The IRS has replaced scanning equipment that is older than five years and installed automated mail-sorter machines in the six highest-volume IRS locations, streamlining the process of mail sorting, opening and scanning. As of the end of June, the IRS had scanned more than 2 million pieces of paper. Digitization has far-reaching implications for how the IRS can improve service and will enable the IRS to create completely digital workflows. 
• Online Account payment plans. The IRS recently delivered a data service that improves the taxpayer experience through Individual Online Account, allowing tax professionals to access and create payment plans on behalf of individual taxpayers. 

In addition to the improvements made in direct support of taxpayers, foundational technology has continued the incremental improvements needed to increase operational effectiveness and efficiency for employees. 

• Updating outdated Human Resource IT systems. Due to more than a decade of funding cuts to the agency, the IRS has hundreds of disparate, legacy human resources (HR) information technology (IT) systems with thousands of workflows. The transformation and streamlining of the HR IT applications using IRA funding is key to cultivating a robust organization, with a healthy HR function at its core. This multi-year project is a partnership with Treasury’s CIO and leverages cutting-edge technology to modernize IRS’s legacy HR applications, automate manual processes and make use of Treasury’s existing shared service offerings. These HR technology improvements in talent acquisition, workforce planning, labor and employee relations and other key HR processes will enhance the employee experience, improve productivity and help retain a strong and high-quality workforce needed to deliver customer service improvements for taxpayers. 
• Increasing network bandwidth to help employees, taxpayers. IRS has doubled the network bandwidth at many of our worksites to meet increased workforce demand and improve taxpayer service. The IRS is on track to complete this phase of network expansion at all sites ahead of Filing Season 2025. 

INCREASING TAX FAIRNESS

The IRS is also continuing work to ensure large corporate, large partnership and high-income individual filers pay the taxes they owe. Prior to the Inflation Reduction Act, more than a decade of budget cuts prevented the IRS from keeping pace with the increasingly complicated set of tools that the wealthiest taxpayers use to hide their income and evade paying their share. The IRS is now taking a variety of steps to close this gap. 

The IRS has ramped up efforts to pursue high-income, high-wealth individuals who have either not filed their taxes or failed to pay recognized tax debt, with dozens of revenue officers focused on these high-end collection cases. These efforts are concentrated among taxpayers with more than $1 million in income and more than $250,000 in recognized tax debt.  Earlier this month, the IRS announced that it has collected more than $1 billion from high-wealth taxpayers as part of an effort to ensure these individuals pay what they owe. The initiative focuses on individuals whose incomes were more than $1 million per year and who each owed the IRS more than $250,000. The $1 billion collected represents collections as of April 2024, with work continuing in this area.

MORE IMPROVEMENTS PLANNED FOR 2025 AS FILING SEASON WORK INTENSIFIES

In addition to these areas mentioned above, the IRS has a number of initiatives where changes related to the Inflation Reduction Act will accelerate later this year and into the 2025 filing season. Here are some examples:

• Improving efficiency in call centers, reducing paper, and maintaining expanded staffing levels at Taxpayer Assistance Centers, while working to ensure taxpayers are aware of all available credits and benefits. 
• Expanding online services by expanding the features available in online accounts, including digital copies of notices, status updates, secure two-way messaging and expanded payment options.
• Advancing the Paperless Processing Initiative by providing new non-tax forms in digital mobile-friendly formats in addition to the 20 delivered in fiscal year 2024 as well as scanning at the point of entry virtually all paper-filed tax and information returns.
• Expanding information available to taxpayers on important issues, ranging from the availability of important tax credits and benefits as well as more consumer-focused information raising awareness about emerging tax scams and schemes. 

More information on these and other improvements related to the 2025 tax season will be available later this fall.

For further information: 

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As Prepared for Delivery

Thank you, Minister Haddad, for hosting these meetings and thanks to all of you for being here today. Before taking your questions, I would like to step back and recognize President Biden for his leadership. Over the past three and a half years, he has driven a remarkable economic recovery and strong economic growth at home and restored America’s standing in the world, enabling progress on many of the priorities I’ll be focused on in Brazil this week. I am deeply proud to serve the American people with him and Vice President Harris and I look forward to continuing to advance U.S. leadership around the globe and deliver results for American families and businesses at home. Let me now discuss the global economic outlook, the Biden-Harris Administration’s approach to bolstering the global economy and furthering U.S. interests, and our priorities while in Brazil.

 I. Global Economic Outlook

Over the past four years, we have faced a global pandemic, the effects of Russia’s war against Ukraine, and other challenges. And even two years ago, many predicted a dismal outlook for the global economy. But they were mistaken. Today, the global economy remains resilient—driven in large part by the United States’ remarkable economic performance. 

Instead of faltering, U.S. GDP grew by a robust 3.1 percent during 2023. And new data from just this morning shows growth of 2.8 percent in the second quarter of this year, affirming the path we’re on to steady growth and declining inflation. The IMF now expects the U.S. economy to be more than 10 percent larger by the end of 2024 than it forecasted in October 2019, before the onset of the pandemic. In fact, the United States was one of the few major economies with a cumulative contribution to global growth over the past five years that exceeded pre-pandemic expectations. 

This morning’s report—and the broader strength we’ve seen in the U.S. economy in recent years—didn’t happen by accident. It reflects the Biden-Harris Administration’s economic plan. 15.7 million jobs have been created since President Biden took office. The unemployment rate remains historically low and the prime-age labor force participation rate is higher than it has been since 2002. Inflation is down significantly from its peak, trending towards the Federal Reserve’s target. Our Administration recognizes that prices are still too high for many Americans so we’ve advanced an agenda focused on addressing long-standing cost pressures for families in areas from housing, to health care, to energy. 

We are also seeing signs of dynamism across the U.S. economy. There have been record numbers of new businesses applications, showcasing the optimism felt by many American entrepreneurs. Growth in business investment from 2022 to 2024 significantly outperformed what is typical in the years following a recession. And we’ve seen a historic boom in private sector investment in key industries such as semiconductors, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing.

II. Commitment to Multilateralism

While the Biden-Harris Administration’s economic plan continues to deliver results at home, we know that there remain risks to the global economic outlook and vulnerabilities in some countries. And because we see that a prosperous and stable global economy benefits not only the world but also the American people, we firmly believe that America must play a leading role, including to bolster resilient supply chains and to address global challenges.  

If we step back to reflect on the past few years since our Administration took office, I believe we have seen our commitment to strengthening ties with our longstanding allies and with partners around the world and to multilateralism pay off, and we will continue to build on our successes to drive further progress. 

Following my and Minister Sri Mulyani’s’s call to action, finance and health ministries came together in record time to launch the Pandemic Fund, raising nearly $2 billion for critical global investments in pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response to help mitigate the enormous human and economic costs from potential future pandemics like COVID-19. We are now calling for an additional at least $2 billion to double the Pandemic Fund’s resources. And I was pleased to announce yesterday that the United States intends to pledge up to $667 million, or one third of the $2 billion goal, to support the Pandemic Fund through 2026, with $250 million to be contributed this year.

We worked with the G20 to rally the global community to address food insecurity and have seen the international financial institutions significantly step up, increasing financing for food and agriculture by around 60 percent over the past two years—to $15 billion annually. We now continue to press the G20 to do more to strengthen the international food finance architecture. 

We have made progress on debt relief through the Common Framework but urge faster progress for debt restructuring and more support to countries struggling with debt service costs.

And we’ve worked including through the G20 to evolve the multilateral development banks’ missions, incentives, operational models, and financial capacity—leading to enabling over $200 billion in additional lending capacity over the next decade, innovating to offer new financial instruments, and delivering historic levels of climate finance. We now continue to advance the MDB evolution agenda and call on the G20 to deliver a robust and impactful IDA policy and financial package.

III. Climate Action

The United States will continue to demonstrate our commitment to multilateralism while here in Brazil this week, including through a focus on climate. Our Administration has made addressing climate change a top priority and Treasury has played a key role—including through my work with Minister Haddad and other counterparts, through the G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group the United States co-chairs with China, and through the multilateral climate funds and MDBs. 

Supported by Brazil’s G20 leadership, we are also prioritizing work to reform the climate finance architecture to make accessing finance from the multilateral climate funds easier for countries, to better mobilize the private sector, and to support scaling approaches that work. The   work of the Independent High-Level Expert Group is ongoing, and I look forward to its recommendations.

We are also focused on continued efforts to position the MDBs to better address climate mitigation, adaptation, and resilience and to pursue broader work on the environment, including on nature and biodiversity. This work is critical to supporting countries in achieving their development goals, and we have made significant progress. Developed countries mobilized a record nearly $116 billion to support developing countries in addressing climate change in 2022, 40 percent of which was through the MDBs. 

I will further advance our work on climate this week, including by meeting with my counterparts from the countries of the Amazon Basin and private sector representatives.

IV. Geopolitical Issues

Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the United States is also playing a key role in working with our partners to address geopolitical challenges. As part of a strong global coalition, the United States has taken unprecedented action against Russia’s brutal and unjust war on Ukraine and Treasury remains committed to using all the tools at our disposal to support Ukraine and degrade Russia’s ability to sustain this war. We continue cracking down on Russian sanctions evasion and have strengthened and expanded our ability to target foreign financial institutions and anyone else around the world supporting Russia’s war machine. As the G7 Leaders agreed in Apulia, we are also advancing work to make available approximately $50 billion in additional funding to Ukraine by the end of this year.

We continue to take action in response to ongoing conflict in the Middle East as well. Treasury remains focused on countering the Iranian regime’s financing of terrorist actors, including by taking joint sanctions actions with our G7 partners; ensuring humanitarian aid can get to Palestinians in Gaza; and stabilizing the West Bank economy. I am glad that Israel has allowed its banks to continue cooperating with Palestinian banks but remain convinced that a 1-year extension of the waiver to facilitate this cooperation is needed.

And our response to geopolitical risks extends from responding to conflict to making sure that people and economies around the world can thrive. The United States has pursued strong collaboration with emerging markets and developing countries and continues to work toward a healthy economic relationship with China in which American firms and workers can compete on a level playing field. This means that I will keep pressing China to address its macroeconomic model, which is channeling too much savings and too many subsidies into manufacturing, contributing to industrial overcapacity. This poses a threat to the viability of firms and workers around the world, and I know my concerns are shared by many at these meetings. 

I look forward to moving our collective work forward this week, and I will now take your questions.

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As Prepared for Delivery 

I would like to start by thanking Brazil, including President Lula and Ministers Haddad, Dias, and Vieira, for hosting this Ministerial today to endorse the establishment of a Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty.

Last September, I underscored how the global challenges of climate change, pandemics, and fragility and conflict all exacerbate and are exacerbated by hunger and poverty. 

The State of Food Security and Nutrition report released just this morning makes clear that these global challenges continue to put pressure on our hard-won gains toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals to eradicate poverty and hunger.

And these challenges weigh most heavily on the poorest countries and most vulnerable people, threatening their lives, livelihoods, and well-being.

Enabling individuals, communities, and countries to prepare for, help mitigate, and manage such shocks requires long-term thinking, effective country-owned policy implementation, strong partnerships across disciplines, and cohesive investments in systems that build resilience.

Each of these are tenets at the core of the collective vision for the Global Alliance, and of the work the United States has been pursuing.

The United States has committed over $20 billion to efforts to address global food insecurity since 2021.

This includes committing about $1 billion annually through the U.S. Government’s global hunger and poverty initiative, Feed the Future, which has lifted 23.4 million people out of poverty, prevented 5.2 million families from experiencing hunger, and unlocked $6.2 billion in additional food security financing.

In response to the 2022 food security crisis triggered by Russia’s war on Ukraine, I convened the international financial institutions, resulting in the jointly developed IFI Action Plan to Address Food Insecurity.

The Action Plan proved effective in shaping a coordinated response to the food security crisis, including in driving substantial commitments. By June 2023, the World Bank had mobilized $45 billion toward food and nutrition security, significantly surpassing its original commitment.

Ongoing work by the IFIs to build cohesive approaches for fostering resilient food systems will support better alignment of resources in the fight against hunger and poverty.

The United States has also continued to invest in multilateral platforms with proven track records of impactful, country demand-driven programs, including the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP). I am pleased that the important work of both IFAD and GAFSP (pronounced GAF-S-P) has been recognized by the Alliance.
 
In December last year, the United States announced the leading pledge of $162 million to IFAD’s thirteenth replenishment, which recently reached a record of $1.4 billion in new replenishment financing. And I am so pleased that Brazil recently announced its $13 million pledge, more than doubling its contribution during the previous replenishment.

We also continue to support GAFSP, which was launched by the G20 in the wake of the 2007–08 food price crisis to provide financial and technical resources to projects that advance food security. Since its inception, GAFSP has mobilized over $2 billion in donor funding, of which the United States has contributed $800 million.

As the United States continues to prioritize the fight against hunger and poverty, we remain supportive of the goals of the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty. As global challenges worsen food security and disproportionately impact the most vulnerable, we have a responsibility to work together to address these needs. Thank you.

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