Stock photo / Diplomatic relations between the European Union and Venezuela have been  strained recently. 

By Gary Raynaldo     DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

The government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has reversed its recent decision ordering the European Union’s ambassador to leave the country after Brussels slapped sanctions against 11 officials of the Maduro regime.  On Monday, President Maduro announced that Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa, the EU ambassador in Caracas, was being expelled and given 72 hours to leave as Brussels sanctioned the Venezuelan officials  for acting against the national assembly headed by opposition leader Juan Guaidó.  But apparently, the Venezuelan Minister of People’s Power for Foreign Affairs, Jorge Arreaza, and the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, held a phone conversation in which they agreed on the need to maintain the framework of diplomatic relations, according  to a statement released Thursday by the EU. 

“Consequently, the Venezuelan Government decided to rescind the decision taken on June 29, 2020, by which Ambassador Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa, Head of the Delegation of the European Union in Caracas, was declared persona non grata. They both agreed to promote diplomatic contacts between the parties at the highest level, within the framework of sincere cooperation and respect for international law.”

-EU statement Jul. 2, 2020.

A diplomatic firestorm erupted earlier this week between Brussels and Caracas after the EU Council added 11 leading Venezuelan officials to the list of those subject to restrictive measures, because of what the EU said for their role in acts and decisions undermining democracy and the rule of law in Venezuela. Maduro immediately fired back in a press conference on Tuesday with a blistering message to the EU:

“Given the interventionist, racist  and supremacist actions of the European Union that attack Venezuelans with sanctions, I decided to give 72 hours to their ambassador to leave the country. They must respect Venezuela in its integrity as a nation. Enough of Colonialism!”

 -Venezuela President Maduro

As the 72-hours deadline was set to expire, Brussels and Caracas held a high-level phone meeting over the issue that was apparently resolved-for now. 

Venezuela Minister of Foreign Affairs  Jorge Arreaza: 

“The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the External Action Service of the European Union report in a joint statement their decision to maintain the framework of diplomatic relations, cooperation and political dialogue”:

#COMUNICADO | La República Bolivariana de Venezuela y el Servicio de Acción Exterior de la Unión Europea informan en comunicado conjunto, su decisión de mantener el marco de las relaciones diplomáticas, la cooperación y el diálogo político: pic.twitter.com/9IiwInMLsU

— Jorge Arreaza M (@jaarreaza) July 2, 2020

Restrictive measures by the EU on Venezuela were introduced in November 2017. They include an embargo on arms and on equipment for internal repression as well as a travel ban and an asset freeze on listed individuals. The EU measures have strained relations between Brussels and Caracas.  In February 2019, European countries including the UK, Spain, France, Germany, Sweden and Denmark recognised Juan Guaidó as the interim president of Venezuela in a coordinated move made after a deadline for Nicolás Maduro to call presidential elections expired.