Colombia’s foreign minister announced Tuesday that his government would impose sanctions on top officials from neighboring Venezuela.
Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo said that migration authorities will soon disallow Venezuelan government officials entry to the country and freeze bank accounts of people considered close to Venezuela’s authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro.
The announcement was made on the same day that Peru announced to adopt similar sanctions proposed by the Lima Group, a collection of American nations that have been pressuring Caracas to end the authoritarian rule of Maduro and his PSUV party.
Lima Group
- Argentina
- Brazil
- Canada
- Chile
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Guatemala
- Guyana
- Honduras
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Santa Lucia
The United States, which is not a member of the Lima Group, also announced new sanctions targeting the leftist Maduro administration.
The administration of US President Donald Trump said it would impose sanctions on a Venezuelan currency exchange network that, according to Washington DC, has siphoned billions of dollars to officials loyal to Maduro.
Maduro is set to renew his presidential mandate on Thursday, but can count on little support from the region. The ceremony will only be attended by two regional heads of state, those of allies Cuba and Boliva.
The vast majority of countries in Europe and the Americas refuse to recognize the legitimacy of the Venezuelan government and Maduro’s presidency.
The political crisis in Venezuela, combined with a virtual collapse of the country’s economy, has spurred a mass migration from Venezuelans trying to escape hunger and a scarcity in medicine.