The United States has announced sanctions against 21 allies of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, citing alleged involvement in the suppression of protests following a contested July election.

Officials with the US Department of the Treasury said on Wednesday that the harsh crackdown, in which at least 25 protesters were killed, was an effort to stifle dissent. More than 2,400 protesters were arrested during the demonstrations.

“Maduro and his representatives’ repressive actions in the wake of the Venezuelan presidential election are a desperate attempt to silence the voices of its citizens,” Bradley Smith, the acting undersecretary of the Treasury Department, said in a statement.

Venezuela, meanwhile, dismissed Wednesday’s sanctions as a “desperate act”.

The sanctions come months after a July 28 presidential election in which Maduro claimed victory, despite pre-election polling showing him losing by an insurmountable margin.

When the election results were announced without the usual breakdown of votes, the opposition denounced the tally as fraudulent. It published copies of ballot sheets online that it said proved opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez won the race.

International observers also questioned the election results. “Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election did not meet international standards of electoral integrity and cannot be considered democratic,” The Carter Center, a US-based nonprofit, wrote in a news release afterwards.

Last week, the administration of US President Joe Biden recognised Gonzalez as Venezuela’s legitimate leader. It is unclear what effect that announcement, along with the new round of sanctions, will have on Venezuela.

A separate news release from the US Department of State said that the sanctions target “members of the security forces and cabinet-level officials” who “undermined a competitive and inclusive electoral process in Venezuela or are responsible for acts of repression”.

“Maduro’s security apparatus has engaged in widespread abuses, including killings, repression and mass detention of protestors,” the State Department wrote.

The release also said that such sanctions have been applied to a total of 180 current and former Venezuelan officials, including today’s batch. Nearly 2,000 people face visa restrictions for their alleged role in the electoral repression as well.

The Maduro government has faced growing diplomatic isolation following the election, which awarded the bus-driver-turned-president a third term in office.

Some leaders in the region, including Brazil’s Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva and Colombia’s Gustavo Petro, had previously expressed a desire for stronger ties with Venezuela. But both men have since cast doubt on the legitimacy of Maduro’s victory and called for the release of voting tallies that could confirm the government’s claims.

Maduro’s government has yet to release such documentation.

Other Latin American countries, including Peru, El Salvador and Argentina, have broken relations with Venezuela in the aftermath of the election.

Still, Venezuela does maintain diplomatic relations with many of its neighbours in Latin America. On Wednesday, Uruguay’s President-elect Yamandu Orsi indicated he would maintain ties with Maduro’s government, even though he too previously called the election results “more than suspicious”.

The opposition candidate Gonzalez, meanwhile, left Venezuela after the government issued a warrant for his arrest, part of a wider campaign against members of the opposition. He is currently in Spain.