Macron Calls for More Sanctions on Venezuela

French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday called for harsher European sanctions against Venezuela and urged the South American country’s trading partners to follow suit in a bid to increase pressure on the government of Nicolas Maduro. Following a court decision to exclude the Venezuelan opposition from upcoming presidential elections in April, Macron denounced the “unacceptable authoritarian slide” of the oil-rich and once prosperous country, AFP reported. “It will be at the European level that we will coordinate to see if we want to increase our sanctions. I am in favor,” he told a press conference with Argentinian President Mauricio Macri. He said individual European sanctions against Venezuelans linked to the Maduro government had had a “limited impact”.  “I hope that other countries which share our values and our attachment to human rights, and obviously have much closer economic links, can also introduce effective sanctions,” he added in an apparent message to other Latin American countries.