Despite being sanctioned since November 2017 by the European Union, the Vice President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, arrived in Brussels to participate in the summit between the EU and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac).
(Read also: Venezuela closes the door to EU electoral observation for the 2024 presidential elections)
Rodríguez was authorized for four days to reach European territory. And it would be a special visa. Rodríguez also took a picture with Spanish President Pedro Sánchez, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.
A diplomatic source who requested anonymity assured the AFP agency that the permission for Delcy Rodríguez to enter the European space was “extended last week and is valid for the duration of the summit.”
Rodríguez, one of the most powerful women in Chavismo, was included in the sanctions for her role in the presidential elections that were held in Venezuela in May 2018 and in which Nicolás Maduro obtained a second term. The EU considers that there were irregularities in this election.
In announcing the sanctions on Rodríguez and ten others, the EU said they were responsible for “human rights violations and undermining democracy and the rule of law in Venezuela.”
On behalf of Pdte. @NicolasMaduro We have arrived in Brussels to participate in the III EU-CELAC Summit.
The Bolivarian Diplomacy of Peace advocates relations of respect between equals and is the voice of our people in the world. pic.twitter.com/nOMIQMPBYP
— Delcy Rodríguez (@delcyrodriguezv) July 16, 2023
An incident in Spain
The scope of the sanctions prohibits Chavismo officials from moving through European territory, otherwise they can be deported.
In 2020, a scandal occurred when the Spanish Transport Minister met in secret at the Madrid airport with Rodríguez. José Luis Ábalos had to explain the situation. The EU showed its displeasure despite the fact that Rodríguez only stayed for a few hours.
(Also read: Venezuela: Did the opposition debate serve to design a strategy against Maduro?)
At that moment the United States reacted. “We have many questions that we are going to try to get the Spanish government to answer,” said State Department official Carrie Filipetti.
“This type of actions, meet someone who is sanctioned, undermine the joint policy that the United States and the European Unionhave launched on Venezuela,” emphasized Filipetti.
Lifting of the “criminal blockade”
Vice President Rodríguez urged that the “criminal blockade” against her country be lifted, upon reaching the summit between the European Union (EU) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac).
We come with great hope to bring the message of Venezuela, the lifting of the criminal blockade against our country.
“We come with great hope to bring the message of Venezuela, the lifting of the criminal blockade against our country, so we bring from the (Venezuelan) President Nicolás Maduro a message of peace, harmony, cooperation, which must be the route that continues and guides our countries,” Rodríguez declared.
The European Union itself agreed last year to extend until November 14 the sanctions imposed on various officials and members of the Venezuelan Government.
At the end of April, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrellaffirmed that the community bloc is willing to review the personal sanctions against senior Chavismo officials if “democratic normalization” advances in Venezuela and there are “free, transparent and inclusive elections.”
Rodríguez stated that he was reaching “a historic summit of two blocks of countries marked by imbalances and inequalities.” He added that Venezuela aspires to “paths of peace for all the countries of the world” and to “genuine, true cooperation that is fruitful for the people, the people who are in the streets, who expect something from their rulers.”
ANA MARIA RODRIGUEZ BRAZON
WEATHER CORRESPONDENT
CARACASWith information from EFE and AFP
#sanctioned #vice #president #Venezuela #participates #EUCelac #Summit