At Spain’s request, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, will put the possibility of lifting certain sanctions against the Maduro regime on the agenda for a forthcoming meeting of the ‘Foreign Affairs’ Council.
“I have asked for a review of the EU’s sanctions against Venezuela, in line with the recent decisions taken by the United States in this regard and taking into account the positive developments in the dialogue between the Venezuelans”, declared the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, in Luxembourg on Monday 23 October. Mr Borrell added that he would present this review study at a forthcoming ‘Foreign Affairs’ Council.
Last week, the Maduro regime and the Venezuelan political opposition announced that they had reached an agreement on lifting obstacles to the participation of political opponents in the presidential elections in the second quarter of 2024, including María Corina Machado, who has just won the primary elections by a landslide (see EUROPE 13274/24). The agreement may pave the way for an EU election observation mission.
See the agreement signed in Barbados (in Spanish): https://aeur.eu/f/97y
The European sanctions, which target 55 dignitaries of the Maduro regime (see EUROPE 12663/3), will be automatically renewed on 14 November unless a decision is taken to the contrary.
A ‘Foreign Affairs’ Council will be held on Monday 13 November. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)