E.U. Ministers Approve Venezuela Arms Embargo<br />In a statement, the Maduro administration called the new European restrictions "illegal, absurd and ineffective." Also on Monday, the government, seeking to ease Venezuela’s economic crisis and avoid a default, began talks in Caracas on renegotiating a crushing foreign debt<br />that has drained its treasury of money to import food and medicine.<br />The ministers also established the legal framework for sanctions, including travel bans<br />and the freezing of assets, against government officials, a step the Trump administration has taken against dozens of Venezuelan government officials, including Mr. Maduro.<br />calls upon the government to urgently restore democratic legitimacy, including through free and fair elections, and on the opposition to continue engaging in a united manner towards a negotiated solution to the current tensions, in the interest of the country." Opposition leaders in Venezuela announced last week<br />that they planned to resume stalled face-to-face negotiations with the Maduro administration this week in the Dominican Republic.<br />Nothing should really surprise." Mr. Maduro has said he hopes to restructure Venezuela’s $63 billion in bonds, most of them issued by the government<br />and the state-run oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, known as Pdvsa.<br />13, 2017<br />CARACAS, Venezuela — The foreign ministers of the European Union approved an arms embargo against Venezuela on Monday as part of what they<br />called "restrictive measures" to pressure the administration of President Nicolás Maduro to strengthen the rule of law and democracy.<br />The European Union’s foreign ministers cited those elections, which were scarred by allegations of fraud<br />and electoral trickery, as an impetus for its decision on Monday, and they called on the Maduro administration to allow "a comprehensive and independent audit" of the results.
