America Reviews Sanctions Policy on Venezuela

The spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, Matthew Miller, announced today that "the United States is reviewing its sanctions policy on Venezuela after the Supreme Court upheld a ban preventing presidential candidate María Corina Machado from taking office." The ruling issued by Venezuela's Supreme Court yesterday means that Machado (56 years old) will be unable to run in the presidential elections scheduled for the second half of this year. He stated, "The United States is currently reviewing its policy regarding sanctions on Venezuela, based on this development and the recent political targeting of democratic opposition candidates and civil society." He added that "the court's ruling is extremely concerning and contradicts the commitments made by President Nicolás Maduro to allow all parties to choose their candidates for the presidential elections."