Brussels, Nov 11 (UNI) The Council of the European Union on Monday extended its sanctions against Venezuela til November 14, 2020, keeping in view the ongoing political, economic, social and humanitarian crisis in the country.
“In light of the ongoing political, economic, social and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela with persistent actions undermining democracy, the rule of law and the respect for human rights, the Council today extended the restrictive measures against Venezuela for one year, until 14 November 2020,” the Council of the European Union said in a statement.
The measures include arms embargo, as well as a travel ban and asset freeze on 25 Venezuelan officials, Sputnik said in a report.
“These measures are intended to help encourage democratic shared solutions in order to bring political stability to the country and allow it to address the pressing needs of the population. The targeted measures are flexible and reversible and designed not to harm the Venezuelan population,” the council stressed.
Since the beginning of the year, Venezuela has been embroiled in political unrest as President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido engaged in a power battle, while the country’s economy has been in precipitous decline following a global downturn in the price of crude oil — the country’s main export.
According to the UN Refugee Agency, Nearly 5,000 people leave Venezuela every day due to instability and uncertainty amid the economic and political crisis, and three million Venezuelans have left since 2015.
The European Union introduced sanctions against Caracas in November 2017 “to encourage a credible and meaningful process that could lead to a peaceful negotiated solution” and has since then been extending the restrictions
