Switzerland has placed sanctions on 25 Maduro regime officials, including high-ranking figures, over their role in the ongoing human rights crisis in the country.
The sanctions come from Switzerland’s Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER), and target the following individuals, among others:
- Nicolas Maduro
- Carlos Calderon (head of investigations at the Servicio Bolivariano de Inteligencia Nacional [SEBIN])
- Rafael Ramon Blanco Marrero: Sub-director of the Direccion General de Contrainteligencia Militar (DGCIM), the regime’s military counterintelligence agency.
- Nestor Reverol: Minister of the Interior, Justice and Peace.
- Gustavo Enrique Gonzalez Lopez: Head of the SEBIN.
- Tibisay Lucena: Head of the Consejo Nacional Electoral, the country’s electoral authority
- Maikel Moreno: Chief magistrate of the Tribunal Supremo de Justicia, the country’s top court
- Tarek William Saab: Attorney general
- Diosado Cabello: Vice president of the PSUV and president of the Constituent Assembly
The full sanctions list can be found here.
Argentina Recognizes Opposition Ambassador
The Argentinian government held a ceremony today in which it issued credentials to Elisa Trotta, the opposition representative to the country, making her the official ambassador from Venezuela.
The ceremony was presided by Jorge Faurie, the Argentinian Minister of Foreign Affairs, who said earlier this week that “to be neutral is to be complicit” in the Maduro regime’s ongoing human rights abuses.
Trotta’s recognition as Venezuela’s legitimate representative in Argentina comes at the country gets ready to vote in a presidential election on October 27. While the current government of president Mauricio Macri has been staunchly critical of the Maduro regime, his top rival, Alberto Fernandez, said that he would withdraw Argentina from the Lima Group and therefore soften Buenos Aires’ stance against Maduro were he to win the election.
Fernandez’s running mate is Kristina Kirchner, the former president of Argentina and a close ally of both Chavez and Maduro.
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