Kriener had helped to try to bring humanitarian aid to the country, he said, adding: “It seems that the Maduro regime does not forgive anyone who wants to help Venezuela.” Berlin protested the decision, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas saying that kicking Kriener out only “aggravates the situation”.
Caracas “is sending a message to the international community that such frontal support would have consequences, but it also carries a risk,” said Venezuelan analyst Mariano de Alba.
National Security Advisory John Bolton said the US also is putting foreign financial institutions on notice that they will face sanctions if they facilitate “illegitimate transactions that benefit Nicolas Maduro and his corrupt network.” The US is already trying to cripple Maduro’s access to finances via sanctions on state oil company PDVSA and handing control to Guaido of Venezuelan bank accounts in the United States. However, UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said sanctions have worsened Venezuela’s crippling economic and political crisis, which has forced 2.7 million people to flee since 2015.
“Venezuela clearly illustrates the way violations of civil and political rights — including failure to uphold fundamental freedoms, and the independence of key institutions — can accentuate a decline of economic and social rights,” said Bachelet, a former president of Chile. “This situation has been exacerbated by sanctions,” Bachelet said in her annual report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Maduro has repeatedly said his socialist government is the victim of an “economic war” driven by US “imperialism” — with sanctions the weapon of choice to try to topple him. Guaido, 35, returned home to a hero’s welcome on Monday, having defied a ban on leaving the country to embark on a 10-day tour of South American allies. He remains free despite the threat of arrest by the government.
“Today more than ever, we are victorious against the conspiracy, against blackmail, while a crazy minority continues with their hatred,” he said in his first public comments since Guaido’s return.
When he returned to Caracas — his latest challenge to Maduro’s authority — Guaido announced to tens of thousands of supporters his plans for new protests on Saturday.
He has vowed to set up a transitional government and hold new elections.As part of his challenge to Maduro, Guaido is attempting to take control of the state bureaucracy, which he considers to have been “kidnapped” through blackmail and persecution.
Unions from the oil industry, basic services, state banks and local government took part in Tuesday’s meeting, union leader Ana Yanez told AFP.”The public administration is practically paralyzed. In the town halls, people only go to work three days a week and even then barely half the day,” said Yanez.
