Portugal supports lifting EU sanctions against Delcy Rodríguez

In a press conference at the end of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Kaja Kallas said that she has seen positive steps from Venezuela’s interim authorities in relation to Europe, namely “the release of European political prisoners”.

“We are discussing, and will continue to discuss in the future, what our approach to Venezuela will be. I will propose that we lift sanctions against Delcy Rodríguez as current interim President”announced the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, who said that she does not yet know whether there will be a consensus among the 27 Member States on this issue.

On the other hand, Kaja Kallas also mentioned that she intends for Member States to address in the future how the EU should relate to Venezuela and admitted that a set of performance indicators will be established to assess Caracas’ stance.

“We would establish what we want to see from the Venezuelan side, so that we can also take steps on our side”these.

Last Friday, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares announced that he would ask the EU to lift sanctions against Delcy Rodríguez, an issue that Kallas acknowledged was debated today among ministers.

Delcy Rodriguez, former vice president of Nicolas Maduro, assumed power after the latter’s capture on January 3 by the US army.

Under pressure from Washington, Rodríguez made several changes, adopting an amnesty law to free political prisoners and reforming the oil sector, which was opened to the private sector.

At least 65 prisoners were released in Venezuela under the recently enacted amnesty law, according to a report published by the non-governmental organization (NGO) Foro Penal, specialized in the defense of political prisoners.

Venezuelan justice granted freedom to 379 political prisoners after the law was approved.

Approved and promulgated on Thursday, this amnesty law was promised under pressure from the United States by the interim Venezuelan President, who began a normalization of relations with Washington, which had been severed since 2019, since taking power after Maduro’s capture.