Venezuela renounces expulsion of EU ambassador to Caracas

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Venezuela is renouncing the expulsion of the European Union ambassador to Caracas, the Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs and the head of European diplomacy announced on Thursday July 2. The two officials spoke by phone and therefore defused a new source of potential conflict in an already strained relationship between Venezuela and the European Union.

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Earlier this week, President Nicolas Maduro had given the representative of the European Union three days to leave the country. Ambassador Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa was declared  persona non grata just after the European Union announced that it would apply sanctions against eleven Venezuelan officials and several elected officials, all accused of being involved in actions against the opposition.

The fact that the Chavista government backtracked and canceled the expulsion of the ambassador shows in any case that it wishes to keep the dialogue with the European Union.

Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs Jorge Arreaza and the head of European diplomacy Josep Borell stressed the importance of continuing cooperation between the two parties to facilitate political dialogue. 

So far, the dialogue between the government and the opposition has stalled and the political crisis is likely to worsen in the coming months. Anti-Shavists have confirmed that they will boycott the legislative elections scheduled for December 6.

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• European Union
• Venezuela
• Diplomacy