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UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Venezuela's U.N. ambassador on Friday accused the Obama administration of trying to "destabilize our country and our government" by renewing sanctions on several of his country's top officials over human rights violations, and he read out a statement from more than 100 developing countries backing him up.
Ambassador Rafael Ramirez read out to reporters the statement from the Non-Aligned Movement of 120 countries not formally linked to any major power bloc. The statement expressed support for Venezuela and criticized President Barack Obama, who renewed the sanctions by executive order on Wednesday.
"We are continuing to move forward and reject these measures from the U.S.," the ambassador said.
The countries have had stormy relations since the late Hugo Chavez became president of Venezuela in 1999.
A year ago, Obama sanctioned seven Venezuelan officials, accusing them of perpetrating human rights violations and corruption in the socialist-governed country. All seven came from the top echelon of the state security apparatus responsible for cracking down on anti-government protests that rocked Venezuela in 2014 and for pursuing charges against leading opponents.
The sanctions came after the U.S. Congress passed legislation authorizing penalties that would freeze the assets and ban visas for anyone accused of carrying out acts of violence or violating the human rights of those opposing Venezuela's government.
Protesting the renewal of sanctions, President Nicolas Maduro this week announced that Venezuela's top diplomat in Washington would be called back to Caracas. The two nations haven't exchanged ambassadors since 2010; Maximilien Sanchez Arvelaiz had been Venezuela's acting charge d'affaires in Washington.
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