
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.”

Allies of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro won 91% percent of the legislature's seats following a vote on Sunday that was boycotted by the opposition and disavowed by the United States and the European Union.

The International Contact Group issued a statement on Tuesday to reject the parliamentary elections organized by the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro last Sunday in Venezuela. The block indicated that the electoral process did not comply “with the conditions accepted internationally, nor with the Venezuelan laws.”

The United States imposed sanctions on Monday on Chinese firm China National Electronics Import & Export Corporation (CEIEC), accusing it of supporting Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro efforts to undermine democracy.