"We are deeply concerned by the Venezuelan government's efforts to escalate intimidation of its political opponents. Venezuela's problems cannot be solved by criminalising dissent," the statement said.
Venezuela's foreign ministry recalled its top diplomat in the US for "immediate" consultations after the announcement and said it would respond shortly to the new US moves.
"We will soon make public Venezuela's response to these declarations," Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez told reporters.
During a political event for the ruling party, PSUV, the head of the National Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, called the latest set of sanctions an "embarrassment", and an inmoral attempt by the US to oust President Nicolas Maduro’s government.
The US action marks another downturn in relations between Washington and Caracas. Just last week Maduro announced measures to limit the number of US diplomats in Venezuela, reducing a staff of nearly 100 to just 17 individuals.
In addition to reducing embassy staff, Venezuela is now requiring US citizens to have a visa before entering the country.
The two countries have not had full diplomatic representation since 2008, when late socialist leader Hugo Chavez expelled then-US Ambassador Patrick Duddy. Washington at the time responded by expelling Venezuelan envoy Bernardo Alvarez.
'Undermining democratic processes'
The White House said that the executive order targeted people whose actions undermined democratic processes or institutions, had committed acts of violence or abuse of human rights, were involved in prohibiting or penalising freedom of expression, or were government officials involved in public corruption.
The seven individuals named in the order would have their property and interests in the US blocked or frozen and they would be denied entry into the US. American citizens would also be prohibited from doing business with them.
The White House called on Venezuela to release all political prisoners, including "dozens of students," and warned against blaming Washington for its problems.
"We've seen many times that the Venezuelan government tries to distract from its own actions by blaming the United States or other members of the international community for events inside Venezuela," Earnest said in the statement.
"These efforts reflect a lack of seriousness on the part of the Venezuelan government to deal with the grave situation it faces."
Al Jazeera's Viriginia Lopez, reporting from Caracas, said the US sanctions were being seen by many there as a mistake.
"Many think that the measures could actually feed a strong anti-US sentiment among Chavistas who had been disillusioned by Maduro’s inability to tackle the country’s economic foes, resulting in renewed support for the Maduro government, she said.
Source: Aljazeera