WASHINGTON (EFE/AP).— The United States insisted yesterday that it will reimpose sanctions on Venezuela if the Barbados Agreements for free elections are not met and called to be attentive to the decision that Joe Biden’s administration will make this same day. week.
Next Thursday the relief of sanctions on Venezuelan oil and gas that Washington approved in October to encourage Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to comply with agreements with the anti-Chavista opposition expires.
“We are two days away from April 18. We have made it very clear that if Maduro and his representatives do not fully implement the Barbados Accords, we would reimpose sanctions. What I would say is: stay tuned,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said at a news conference.
Miller highlighted that some aspects of the agreements have already been fulfilled, such as the establishment of an electoral calendar and the invitation to international observation missions, but at the same time opposition candidates have been “blocked.”
The spokesperson, who did not want to give details regarding last week’s meeting between US and Venezuelan officials in Mexico City, assured that the Joe Biden Administration has made it “very clear directly to Maduro and his representatives” that it expects compliance with the Barbados Agreements.
A condition that the United States set for not reimposing the sanctions was that all opposition candidates might run, but the main opposition candidate, María Corina Machado, remains disqualified from the July 28 elections.
The electoral authorities also did not allow his replacement, Corina Yoris, to be registered, which even generated criticism from Maduro allies such as Colombia and Brazil.
In Caracas, Attorney General Tarek William Saab yesterday announced the arrest of journalist and social activist Carlos Julio Rojas, whom he accused of being linked to an alleged plot to attack the life of President Nicolás Maduro.
The prosecutor reported that Rojas was arrested the day before for his links to a plan to assassinate Maduro on March 25, when he went to the headquarters of the National Electoral Council (CNE) to register his candidacy for the presidential elections on March 28. July, in which he aspires to a third term of office of six years.
Saab indicated that Rojas allegedly received instructions from former legislator and opposition leader María Corina Machado to carry out demonstrations, among other violent actions.
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2024-04-25 14:04:34
