MADRID, Feb 20 (Reuters) – Spain’s foreign minister urged the European Union on Friday to lift its sanctions on Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, after lawmakers in the South American country approved a limited amnesty bill for certain prisoners.
Rodriguez, who took power last month after the U.S. ouster of President Nicolas Maduro, has bowed to Trump administration demands on oil sales and released hundreds of people who human rights groups class as political prisoners, as part of a normalisation of relations between the countries.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said the EU should “send a signal that (Venezuela) is heading down the right path in this new phase”.
“Sanctions are never an end in themselves. They are a means to achieve ends so that this broad, peaceful and democratic dialogue can take place,” Albares told reporters in Barcelona.
Later on Friday, EU Commission spokesperson Anouar El Anouni declined to directly address Madrid’s proposal, saying: “We do stand ready to use every tool at our disposal in our toolbox to support a transition towards democracy in Venezuela.”
In 2017, the EU imposed a slew of sanctions on Venezuela, including an arms embargo and a ban on surveillance equipment, following regional elections that it said were marred by irregularities.
A year later, it imposed economic sanctions on 11 senior Venezuelan officials including Rodriguez, who was Maduro’s vice president, saying they were responsible for human rights violations while undermining democracy and the rule of law.
Human rights groups say the amnesty bill approved unanimously by Venezuela’s ruling party-controlled legislature on Thursday falls short of offering relief for hundreds of political prisoners. Caracas has always denied holding political prisoners and says those jailed have committed crimes.
(Reporting by Paolo Laudani; Additional reporting by Inti Landauro in Brussels; Editing by David Latona and Helen Popper)
