Caracas criticises renewed European Union sanctions, asserting they spotlight the bloc’s lack of autonomy on international issues.
Published On 15 Dec 2025
Venezuela’s authorities has lashed out on the European Council over its resolution to resume sanctions towards the South American nation till 2027, calling the measures “a whole failure”.
The sanctions, first launched in 2017, embody an embargo on arms shipments to Venezuela, in addition to journey bans and asset freezes on people linked to state repression.
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In a press release shared by Minister of Foreign Affairs Yvan Gil Pinto, Caracas mentioned the sanctions are coercive and opposite to worldwide legislation, including that they underscore the European Union’s lack of autonomy on the worldwide stage.
On Monday morning, the European Council introduced its plans to resume sanctions on Venezuela till January 10, 2027, citing “persistent actions undermining democracy and the rule of legislation” and human rights violations underneath the administration of President Nicolas Maduro.
The punitive measures embody an embargo on weapons and army tools, a ban on exporting tools to Venezuela that may very well be used for inner repression – resembling mild weapons, ammunition, and surveillance know-how – and journey bans affecting authorities officers, army personnel, and judges linked to human rights violations.
‘Futile’ sanctions
According to the European Union, 69 folks have been topic to asset freezes and journey bans underneath the sanctions as of January this yr.
The European Council mentioned the sanctions will stay in place till the Venezuelan authorities makes “tangible progress on human rights” and the rule of legislation and takes steps in direction of real dialogue and a “democratic transition”.
But the Venezuelan authorities rejected the sanctions as “futile”, describing them as a part of “an erratic international coverage missing autonomy” and slamming “the European Union’s rising irrelevance as a global actor”.
The EU’s sanctions renewal comes amid a mounting army risk by the administration of US President Donald Trump, which has massed forces off the Venezuelan coast and threatened land assaults on the nation. The White House additionally introduced monetary sanctions on three of Maduro’s nephews and 6 oil tankers and delivery companies linked to them final week.
Experts say the EU’s sanctions differ from these of the US, as they’ve a political focus reasonably than focusing on the important oil sector.
“The European Union sanctions have a particular, said political goal: to stress folks within the regime, not the inhabitants of Venezuela, and to protect humanitarian and diplomatic channels and sign disapproval of human rights violations and the weakening of democracy,” Vitelio Brustolin, adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, informed Al Jazeera.
