EU 'Slow' to Impose More Venezuela Sanctions, State Department Official Says, Hoping for Action

The European Union has been “very slow” to impose more sanctions on Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro-led regime, a senior State Department official said Sept. 23. The U.S. wants the EU to follow through on sanctions it said it would impose if the Norway-brokered negotiation broke down between the Maduro regime and the opposition party, the official said. The talks ended earlier this month. “We all understand that they have their procedures and that it’s hard with 28 countries,” the official said of the EU, “but I would hope to see movement in October.”

While the U.S. is not actively “compelling” the EU to impose the sanctions, the official said the U.S. wants them to be imposed soon. “If you’re serious about it, you’ve got to do more than give speeches,” the official said.

The U.S. planned to place Venezuela “very high on the international agenda” this week at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the official said, adding that the U.S.’s goal is “to get more concerted action.”