With the imposition of economic sanctions, the American country seeks to persuade Venezuela of change

Leer en Español:Canadá contra Maduro

The Government of Canada announced the enforcement of a series of sanctions against the regime of Venezuela. Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, in a public statement, indicated that the limitations that will be imposed will fall on Nicolas Maduro and 39 senior officials for breaking constitutional order and disrespecting democratic rights. The Canadian Foreign Ministry affirmed in the statement that the sanctions will affect “key figures” of the Maduro regime who are responsible for “the deterioration of democracy in Venezuela”.

Among the measures ordered by Canada are the freezing of assets and the prohibition that Canadian citizens, inside and outside the country, maintain economic relations with the sanctioned. “Canada will not remain silent while the Venezuelan government deprives its people of their fundamental democratic rights. The announcement of sanctions against the Maduro regime highlights our commitment to the defense of democracy and human rights around the world”, the statement affirmed.

The General Secretary of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, welcomed the sanctions announced by Canada against Nicolas Maduro’s government and stated that it an “instrument of defense of democracy.” In his Twitter account, Almagro was among the first to refer to said limitations. The Secretary of the OAS has been one of the most critical and strongest voices against the Maduro regime, which, in return, has shown contempt.

On the other hand, the Venezuelan government called the sanctions imposed on officials illegal, as they are a “flagrant violation” of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, the Charter of the Organization of American States (OAS), as well as international law. “Venezuela denounces to the international community these unfriendly and hostile measures, which violate, among others, the principle of nonintervention in the internal affairs of States”, the Venezuelan government said in a statement through the website of the Foreign Ministry from said country.

For the Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, the Canadian decision seeks to be intransigent after the installation of the National Constituent Assembly, ANC, and seeks to truncate the dialogues that have begun with the opposition in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; it strongly critiques Canada considering it a hostile country that does what the “empire” dictates.

ANC president Delcy Rodríguez called the sanctions imposed “irrelevant and illicit” since, allegedly, it only seeks its own benefit and forgets about the entire Venezuelan population. For the South American country, the objective of these sanctions is to ignore the institutions of the Venezuelan State who continues to support the violence of the right-wing groups that destabilized the country.

The group of exiled Venezuelans in Miami congratulated Canada on the sanctions imposed and proposed that “democratic countries of the world join in the actions taken by the United States and Canada to limit and isolate the Venezuelan tyranny that enriches and punishes to the people with famine and lack of rights”.

Together with the United States, Canada is the second country to impose sanctions on Venezuela. The limitations imposed by the United States have already forced the regime of Nicolas Maduro to seek new financing options, as well as the elimination of the dollar from official transactions.

Latin American Post | Carlos Eduardo Gómez Avella

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