The United States on Thursday announced travel sanctions against Cuba's Raul Castro and his family, accusing the former president of violations of human rights. In his continued role as the first secretary of the ruling Communist Party, “Raul Castro oversees a system that arbitrarily detains thousands of Cubans and currently holds more than 100 political prisoners,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.
Argentine President Mauricio Macri defended the trade agreement of Mercosur with the European Union, as part of his government's strategy to open Argentina to the world, demanded Iran cooperates with the judicial system to help clear the 1994 AMIA attack in Buenos Aires, condemned the Venezuelan dictatorship of president Nicolas Maduro and called on the United Kingdom for dialogue on the Falklands/Malvinas dispute, although reaffirming his country's “legitimate and imprescriptible sovereignty rights” over the South Atlantic Islands.
Uruguay will leave the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (TIAR, also known as Rio Pact) due to an “obvious attempt” by the other signatories to use it to threaten Venezuela with the use of force, Uruguayan Foreign Minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa said at a press conference in Montevideo on Tuesday.
The United States said on Tuesday it will provide US$52 million in funding to Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, an escalation of support even as his push to oust socialist President Nicolas Maduro stalls.
In a meeting convened by the Organization of American States, 16 of the 19 states party to the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, a 1947 pact known as the Rio Treaty, backed using the pact to collaborate on law-enforcement operations and economic sanctions against Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, and associates, accusing his regime of criminal activity including drug trafficking and money laundering.
The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, denounced that her figure is misunderstood in Venezuela’s case. The Chilean president, who published a severe report in July denouncing human rights violations in Venezuela, said that many in that country mistakenly see her as the virgin Mary, who can work miracles and solve the humanitarian drama.
The United Nations' High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said Saturday she felt “sorry for Brazil,” after President Jair Bolsonaro publicly expressed his support for former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.
Spain's High Court ruled on Monday that the government should refuse a request from the United States to extradite Venezuela's former military intelligence chief.
A group of Venezuelan government officials and opposition activists are quietly holding talks focused on the economy despite the stalling of a formal dialogue mediated by Norway, according to nine sources involved.
President Donald Trump warned that the exit of his hawkish national security adviser won't bring a softening of the US position on Venezuela. Bolton, a prominent hardliner in Washington's attempt to pressure Venezuelan strongman President Nicolas Maduro from power, was sacked last week