Nicolás Maduro rejects deal with EU until it reverses sanctions against Venezuelan nation

Venezuela expels EU ambassador in response to sanctions  

photo_camera REUTERS/MANAURE QUINTERO - The Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Jorge Arreaza, together with the European Union Ambassador to Venezuela, Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa, and the European Union Ambassador to Venezuela, Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza, in an exercise of Bolivarian diplomacy, informed the European ambassador, Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa, on 24 February that she had three days to leave Venezuela. In addition, the government of Nicolás Maduro declared the Portuguese diplomat 'persona non grata', who was embroiled in controversy after the parliament, with a pro-government majority, had approved a motion last Tuesday to expel her.   

Hours after ordering the expulsion of the ambassador from the European Union, the Venezuelan government delivered notes of protest to the heads of the diplomatic missions of Spain, France, the Netherlands and Germany, and held a private meeting at the Foreign Ministry headquarters with the ambassadors of France, Romain Nadal, and Germany, Daniel Kriener, as well as the heads of mission of Spain, Juan Fernández Trigo, and the Netherlands, Robert Schuddeboom. Along with the respective notes of protest, each diplomat received, from Arreaza, a copy of the Venezuelan Constitution and the United Nations (UN) Charter, documents which, according to the government, have not been respected by some European executives.

REUTERS/MANAURE QUINTERO  El embajador francés Romain Nadal, el embajador alemán Daniel Kriener, el embajador holandés Robert Schuddeboom , y el encargado de negocios español Juan Fernández.AFP/YURI CORTEZ

This measure was foreseeable since Tuesday, when the parliament, where the ruling party has a resounding majority, urged the executive to implement the legal mechanisms to carry out the expulsion of the diplomat and that President Nicolás Maduro approved the request, given that he himself ordered the departure of the diplomat in June 2020. However, he backtracked on his decision a few days later, as he claimed at the time, to try to facilitate a dialogue between Caracas and Brussels. 

Despite his previous stance on the EU ambassador, Maduro qualified the Venezuelan government's decision to expel her from the country. "We are doing it against our will, because we want to have the best relations with all of Europe, but we cannot accept anyone coming to offend Venezuela, to attack, to sanction Venezuela. We are not going to accept it from anyone", he insisted. 

This latest decision also provoked reactions from some moderate sectors of the opposition and civil society, who believe that the pressure could become a wedge that could put a brake on the possibility of reaching a political agreement on this year's regional elections, which is promoting another renewal of the electoral tribunal.  

La embajadora de la Unión Europea en Venezuela, Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa   REUTERS/MANAURE QUINTERO

On Monday, the EU sanctioned 19 Venezuelan officials and senior officials for their role in acts and decisions that it believes undermine democracy and the rule of law in Venezuela. The decision brings to 55 the number of officials and senior officials sanctioned by the EU, with travel bans and asset freezes in EU territory. 

Police Commander Remigio Ceballos, the governor of the state of Zulia, Omar José Prieto, and the president of the National Electoral Council, Indira Alfonzo, are among the new list of leaders who will be banned from entering EU territory and whose assets and property in the EU will be frozen. Several members of the NA have also been penalised for not having been "democratically elected", as well as some members of the Supreme Court. 

The new diplomatic spat between the EU and the Bolivarian government is a response to the legislative elections of 6 December, which were held without the participation of opposition candidates and registered serious irregularities and a high abstention rate. The elections were not recognised by the European Union, the United States or most of the region's governments.  

The Chavista regime flatly refused to change the date of the vote, citing constitutional deadlines, and went ahead with the process last Monday 22 February, the European Union imposed sanctions against 19 high-ranking Venezuelan officials, legislators and members of the security forces in response to the December legislative elections. According to the bloc, the elections were rigged in favour of pro-Maduro parliamentarians.  

El presidente venezolano Nicolás Maduro   REUTERS/FAUSTO TORREALBA

Opposition leader Juan Guaidó lost de facto control of the National Assembly, of which he had been president since January 2019, after the December elections. His position as head of the legislature also underpinned the broad international recognition as interim president against Nicolás Maduro, which he won two years ago in the midst of the struggle to achieve the resignation of Hugo Chávez's successor and the formation of a transitional government. When he was excluded from parliament, however, several bodies ceased to attribute this role to him. Among them, the European Union itself, although Brussels does consider him to be a first-line interlocutor for the resolution of the Venezuelan crisis. 

He also rejected the expulsion measure, while highlighting the diplomat's support for respect for human rights. "We sympathise with the European ambassador, who has always shown her support for human rights and democracy in Venezuela on behalf of Europe. The dictator's arrogance isolates him further from the world and pretends to drag the country down with him," Guaidó reacted. 

Both Washington and Brussels have stepped up sanctions against Maduro over the past two years by pointing out that his re-election in 2018 was a sham. However, the measures have yet to achieve the stated goal of calling for new presidential elections. 

The arrival of Joe Biden in the White House has opened the door to a new phase and a possible relaxation of the so-called diplomatic siege, although Washington's first gestures suggest that the new president will take his time to study the situation. 

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