President of Venezuela exposes EU representative / Article / LSM.lv

Isabel Brilante Pedrosa, Head of the European Union Mission in Caracas, must leave Venezuela immediately. The decision was announced by Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro.

The decision was taken by Maduro a few hours after Brussels announced new sanctions against 11 Venezuelan officials for obstructing democratic processes in the country. As a result, the total number of Venezuelan officials subject to a travel ban and asset freezes has risen to 36. The Venezuelan president has strongly criticized this move by Brussels.

“What power do they have? Who are they to sanction someone? Who are they to threaten? Enough. I have decided to give the European Union Head of Mission in Caracas 72 hours to leave our country. I urge the European Union to respect this decision. European colonialism in Venezuela! ” said Maduro.

CONTEXT:

Relations between the two sides have been strained since 2017, when Venezuela became the first Latin American country to be subject to EU sanctions, including an arms embargo.

Among the Venezuelan officials sanctioned by the EU on Monday is opposition parliamentarian Lewis Parra. In January, Parra declared himself Speaker of the National Assembly (Parliament) in place of opposition leader Juan Guido, and the Supreme Court confirmed Parra in May.

In January 2019, Parliament’s Speaker Guido declared himself the interim President of Venezuela, and he has been recognized as such by the United States and 50 other countries. The real power of the head of state is in the hands of President Nicolas Maduro, and he is also supported by the armed forces.

–