French president urges more sanctions, pressure on Venezuela

French President Emmanuel Macron has called for increasing European Union (EU) sanctions on Venezuela, just over a week after the 28-nation bloc, which has sided with the Latin American state’s opposition in its anti-government struggles, slapped a fresh series of bans against Caracas.

Macron, who has been an outspoken critic of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro since taking power in May 2017, denounced the Venezuelan government’s “unacceptable authoritarian slide” and said he was “in favor” of increasing European sanctions.

“I hope that other countries which share our values and our attachment to human rights, and obviously have much closer economic links, can also introduce effective sanctions,” said the French president, who is on an official visit to Argentina.

The comments followed a decision by Venezuela’s Supreme Court to prohibit the country’s main opposition coalition, the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), from competing in the April presidential election.

The verdict said the coalition could not be validated under the country’s law as it violated the principle of avoiding “double affiliation” in politics.

Earlier this week, the EU announced economic sanctions and travel bans on seven members of the Venezuelan government and the ruling party over alleged human rights violations.

Caracas harshly criticized Brussels for imposing sanctions on its senior officials, saying the move showed the bloc was serving the interests of the United States.

SS