Brussels announced this Monday the extension for one year, until January 2027, of the sanctions against Venezuela that the European Union launched after the elections of July 28, 2024. The European restrictions remain in force at a time of maximum pressure from the United States on this Latin American country.
The EU assures that in Venezuela there are still “persistent actions that undermine democracy and the rule of law, as well as continued violations of human rights and repression of civil society and the democratic opposition.”
The expansion of sanctions comes at a time of serious crisis between Venezuela and the United States. President Donald Trump is pressuring Venezuela by land, sea and air, with military coercion that has forced the closure of Venezuela’s airspace, with intervention in trade relations to the point of seizing a loaded oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, and with the recurring threat of land operations after nearly 90 extrajudicial killings in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.
Corina Machado, Nobel Peace Prize winner and opponent of the Maduro government, justified the threats and actions of the United States against her country: “Some talk about the threat of an invasion of Venezuela (by the United States), but Venezuela has already been invaded by Russian, Iranian agents and terrorist groups,” the opponent said in Oslo at a press conference in Oslo after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.
The European sanctions consist of a list of 69 people who supported the regime of President Nicolas Maduro, whose assets have been frozen, in addition to the ban on providing funds or economic resources directly and indirectly and the veto so that they can travel to the European Union. “Nicolás Maduro does not have the legitimacy of a democratically elected president,” declared Kaja Kallas, the head of European diplomacy, when these sanctions were imposed in January 2025.
These restrictions are in addition to other sanctions previously adopted by Brussels and focused on “an embargo on weapons and equipment that can be used for the repression” of the Venezuelan population.
The implementation of these restrictions aims to force Maduro to seek “a negotiated and democratic solution to the crisis in Venezuela.” Brussels assures that “the cancellation of EU sanctions will depend on tangible progress in human rights and the rule of law in Venezuela, as well as significant steps towards genuine dialogue and a democratic transition.”
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