Unasur slams U.S. sanctions against Venezuela

The 12-member Union of South American Nations (Unasur) Tuesday reiterated "deep disdain" for the United States' sanctions on Venezuelan government officials.

Unasur reaffirmed its initial rejection of a law passed by the U.S. Congress in December 2014 that calls for unilateral sanctions on Venezuelan government officials accused of violating human rights, according to an official statement issued a day after Unasur foreign ministers' meeting in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Unasur believed such actions "undermined the international law principle of nonintervention in the internal affairs of other states," and failed to bolster the political, economic and social stability of the South American nations, the statement said.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez said the current U.S. words regarding Venezuela were alarmingly similar to Washington's stance in 2002, prior to the coup that attempted to unseat then President Hugo Chavez.

Unasur Secretary General Ernesto Samper met with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro last Wednesday in Caracas to express the bloc's support for Venezuela.

Tensions between Washington and Caracas have increased since President Barack Obama signed on Dec. 19, 2014, the Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Act, which calls for "targeted sanctions," such as freezing assets and denying visas to Venezuelan government officials deemed to have violated "fundamental freedoms."

Some 56 Venezuelan officials are targeted by the act for allegedly violating "fundamental freedoms" during a wave of violent anti-government protests that rocked the nation from February to May 2014. Endi