On Wednesday 17 February, the ambassadors of the Member States to the European Union (Coreper) initiated the written procedure leading to sanctions against 19 new personalities of the Maduro regime in Venezuela.
These include Indira Alfonzo, the president of the National Electoral Council, and Manuel Eduardo Pérez Urdaneta, one of the five deputy ministers of the Interior and Justice. Supreme Court justices are also in the EU-27’s sights.
These additions to the list of Venezuelan personalities subject to an entry ban and a freeze of assets held in the EU would bring the number of Venezuelans sanctioned by the Union until November 2021 to 55.
At the end of January, the European Union said it was ready to adopt new sanctions against the Maduro regime after it took control of the National Assembly following legislative elections which it described as illegitimate (see EUROPE 12643/7). The previous National Assembly presided over by Juan Guaidó was the last bastion controlled until then by the Venezuelan opposition.
The adoption of these sanctions should become effective at the Foreign Affairs Council on Monday 22 February. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)