MADURO GIVES EU ENVOY 72 HOURS TO LEAVE

MADURO GIVES EU ENVOY 72 HOURS TO LEAVE VENEZUELA 

Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro gave the head of the EU mission in Caracas, Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa, 72 hours to leave the country after the bloc announced sanctions against 11 Venezuelan officials

Venezuela  is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many small islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea

Bordered on the north by the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Colombia, Brazil on the south, Trinidad and Tobago to the north-east and on the east by Guyana

Venezuela is entirely located in the tropics over the Equator to around 12° N

Territory of Venezuela was colonized by Spain in 1522 

In 1811, it became one of the first Spanish-American territories to declare independence from the Spanish as a department of the federal republic of Gran Colombia

Full sovereignty as a country in 1830

Slavery in Venezuela was abolished in 1854

During the 19th century, Venezuela suffered political turmoil and autocracy, remaining dominated by regional military dictators until the mid-20th century. Since 1958, the country has had a series of democratic governments

Much of the period between 1950 and 1973, the Venezuelan economy was characterized by its stability and sustained strength 

Revolution began with a 1999 Constituent Assembly, where a new Constitution of Venezuela was imposed. This new constitution officially changed the name of the country to Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Relations between Venezuela and the United States government worsened in 2002, after the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt 

Venezuela was a proponent of OAS's decision to adopt its Anti-Corruption Convention but on 26 April 2017, Venezuela announced its intention to withdraw from the OAS

Maduro won the 2018 election with 67.8% of the vote

In August 2019, United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order to impose a total economic embargo against Venezuela

Venezuela has a market-based mixed economy dominated by the petroleum sector

The country's main petroleum deposits are located around and beneath Lake Maracaibo, the Gulf of Venezuela (both in Zulia), and in the Orinoco River basin (eastern Venezuela). Besides the largest conventional oil reserves and the second-largest natural gas reserves in the Western Hemisphere

Venezuela has been one of the world's leading exporters of oil, and it is a founding member of OPEC