Barack Obama decided to extend an executive order which imposed sanctions on top Venezuelan officials and named the nation a national security threat. The following day, Venezuela’s president, Nicolas Maduro, said he was removing his main diplomat from the U.S.
A national address stated that charge d’affaires Maximilien Arvelaiz would be heading back to his home country. The Venezuelan news outlets showed citizens holding signs asking for Obama to end the sanctions. A State Department official stated that they had not received a resignation from the diplomat and that, “[The United States] continue[s] to have diplomatic relations with Venezuela and remain willing to engage with all sectors of Venezuela, including the executive branch.”
In 2008, Venezuela and the United States recalled each other’s ambassadors. The South American country has been facing political turmoil in the past two years. In his address, Venezuelan President Maduro condemned a “history of threats of the U.S. empire against Venezuela.”
President Obama stated that his reason for extending the sanctions was that the situation in Venezuela had not improved. In a letter that broadcasted the extension, Obama stated the list of issued that had failed to get better, such as the “Government of Venezuela’s erosion of human rights guarantees, persecution of political opponents, curtailment of press freedoms…” along with other things such as human rights violations.
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