The European Union extended this Friday, November 11, for another year, a series of individual sanctions applied against 17 people linked to the administration of Nicolás Maduro. The announcement was made the same day as the meeting in Paris to resume dialogue between the Government and the Venezuelan opposition
The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry rejected this Saturday, November 12, the decision of the European Union (EU) to extend, for one more year, the sanctions against Chavista officials accused of undermining democracy and violating human rights in Venezuela.
“Venezuela rejects the EU decision to renew the illegal and criminal sanctions applied to the Venezuelan people. We will continue to defend our sovereignty, based on our constitutional principles,” Foreign Minister Carlos Farías wrote on his Twitter account, a text accompanied by the official statement.
ANNOUNCEMENT | Venezuela rejects the decision of the @EU_Commission to renew the illegal and criminal sanctions applied to the Venezuelan people.
We will continue to defend our sovereignty, based on our constitutional principles. pic.twitter.com/XnwuEIM8R5– Carlos Faria (@Fariacrt) November 12, 2022
The European political community extended for another year a series of individual sanctions applied against 17 people linked to the Venezuelan government, arguing that these officials undermine democracy, the rule of law and human rights.
The list is made up of Remigio Ceballos Ichaso, Minister of the Interior and Justice of Venezuela; Tibisay Lucena, Minister of University Education and former president of the National Electoral Council (CNE); Freddy Bernal, governor of the state of Táchira; Maikel Moreno, magistrate of the Criminal Cassation Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of Venezuela (TSJ); Alexis Escalona, Head of the National Office Against Organized Crime and Terrorist Financing (Ondoft); Gladys Requena, General Inspector of Courts; among others.
“Unfortunate” and “anachronistic” sanctions
The Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs describes the decision of the European Council as “unfortunate” and “anachronistic” and affirms that it insists on a “completely wrong” strategy.
“The decision of the European Union, published on the same day that President Emmanuel Macron publicly expresses the will to support negotiations between the Government of Venezuela and a sector of the opposition, is incoherent and constitutes a slap in the face of the French initiative called the Forum for Peace,” warns the letter, referring to the meeting held in Paris between the Venezuelan chief negotiators, Jorge Rodríguez and Gerardo Blyde, with the presidents of France, Argentina and Colombia, to promote the restart of the negotiation in Mexico with the mediation of Norway.
The EU sanctions are personal, against some government officials, but the Maduro administration insists and assures that the restrictive measures “massively punish and violate the human rights of the Venezuelan people”; that these affect access to “food, medicine, and ensure the normal development of our society.”
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