- Nineteen prisoners use cutlery to break out of cells at Winchester prison
- France wants progress in Ukraine before Russia returns to G7
- Italy president begins talks to seek way out of government crisis
- Italian PM expected to resign as political chaos deepens
- Russia says US cruise missile test ‘regrettable’
- Kremlin - No date set for Normandy talks on Ukraine despite Macron meeting
- Egypt court hands out 6 death sentences on terror charges
- Putin says Russian nuclear explosion poses no threat
- Russian panel eyes alleged foreign interference in protests
- Gran Canaria wildfire triggers evacuation of thousands of people
- PM Johnson calls on Germany and France to compromise on Brexit
- Sudan's ex-president Bashir arrives at corruption trial
Wednesday, 24 February 2021_Venezuela's parliament has called for the expulsion of the European Union (EU)'s ambassador to Caracas in response to the bloc's imposition of new sanctions against dozens of officials in President Nicolas Maduro’s government.
The National Assembly called for the head of state to "declare persona non grata the head of the diplomatic delegation" from the EU, Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa, in order to proceed with her expulsion.
"I vote with both hands for the European Union representative to be declared persona non grata," said Assembly Speaker Jorge Rodriguez.
Pedrosa had been declared persona non grata once before, when the EU imposed a previous round of sanctions on Venezuelan officials in July last year. Back then, Caracas gave her 72 hours to leave the country, but the government later backed down.
The National Assembly also called on Tuesday for a revision of the agreement on the EU's presence in Caracas.
The vote came after the EU foreign ministers agreed on Monday to impose sanctions on 19 Venezuelan officials for "undermining democracy."
Two members of the assembly were among the targeted officials. The governor of Zulia State, the commander of the armed forces, and three members of the Electoral Council, including its president, were also added to the EU's list of the individuals targeted with sanctions.
That would bring to 55 the total number of the members of the Venezuelan government targeted with asset freezes and travel bans by the EU.
The EU expanded its list of sanctions against Venezuelan officials after it refused to recognize the results of the December 2020 legislative elections, which saw Maduro win total control of parliament.
The United States and several Latin American countries have also rejected the election results.
They have long been supporting opposition figure Juan Guaido, who has plans to maintain a parallel parliament of shadow opposition lawmakers at an assembly that has already been declared defunct by Caracas.
Your Comment