The new administration of president Joe Biden is in “no rush” to lift U.S. sanctions on Venezuela but would consider easing them if President Nicolas Maduro takes confidence-building steps showing he is ready to negotiate seriously with the opposition, according to White House sources.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro on Monday denounced international sanctions against his country, saying they have limited the government’s ability to fight the health and economic effects of the COVID-19 crisis. European Union foreign ministers on Monday imposed new sanctions on 19 leading Venezuelan officials.
The European Union on Monday imposed sanctions on 19 senior Venezuelan officials, lawmakers and members of the security forces in response to December's legislative election that the bloc said was rigged in favor of President Nicolas Maduro.
AP – The European Union called for broad political talks in Venezuela to set up new elections and warned that it stands ready to slap sanctions on more senior Venezuelan officials in the country if they undermine democracy or take part in human rights violations.
Guyana and the Unites States have signed a new pact aimed at boosting the South American CARICOM nation’s military might. It comes following a decree issued by embattled Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, unilaterally laying claim to Guyana’s Essequibo territory.
After greeting his cabinet, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Tuesday “we are back” to the legislative body that he did not attend in 4 years, a period in which the opposition-controlled the National Assembly. In a special session of a parliament now controlled by chavismo, Maduro offered his first annual message in four years. Among the figures he gave during his speech, the poverty indicators managed by the State standout: 4% of extreme poverty and 17% of “general” poverty.
The outgoing president Donald Trump administration has re-designated Cuba as a “state sponsor of terrorism” in a move that hits the Castro dynasty island with new sanctions shortly before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
Fearing of doing business with politically-exposed clients in a sanctions-hit country, Credit Suisse Group AG has cut relationships with a number of Venezuela’s wealthy.
The Lima Group, a regional bloc comprised mostly of Latin American nations, said on Tuesday that it does not “recognize the legitimacy or legality of the National Assembly installed on January 5” in Venezuela.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday said a move by the opposition-controlled National Assembly to extend its term into next year was “unconstitutional,” and called on the country's justice system to “do its work.”