UK announces sanctions against figures close to Venezuelan president Maduro David Lammy has labelled Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro’s “claim to power” as “fraudulent”, as the UK announced sanctions against 15 people associated with him.
Mr Maduro was declared the winner of the election hours after polls closed on July 28, but there have been concerns about the transparency of the process, as the opposition collected tally sheets from more than 80% of electronic voting machines, posted them online and said the tallies show opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez won twice as many votes as Mr Maduro.
The Foreign Secretary said that the July elections in which Mr Maduro secured a third term were “neither free nor fair and his regime does not represent the will of the Venezuelan people”.
In a statement on Friday, Mr Lammy said: “Nicolas Maduro’s claim to power is fraudulent.
Judges and senior ranking officials are among the individuals sanctioned on Friday, including president of the supreme tribunal of justice Caryslia Beatriz Rodriguez Rodríguez and Rosalba Gil Pacheco, Principal Rector of the National Electoral Council.
