UK backs 'targeted' sanctions on Venezuelan 'kleptocrats'

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Thursday he believed sanctions against Venezuelan "kleptocrats" could be a way to pressure President Nicolas Maduro to call new elections.

He said he would raise the issue later in the day with his European Union counterparts at a meeting in Bucharest, Romania.

"We are not considering sanctions against the whole country because there is a humanitarian situation and we wouldn't want to make the situation even worse," Hunt said in a statement.

"But targeted sanctions against the kleptocrats who have enriched themselves on the back of the rest of the population who are very poor, that is something I think can be effective."
"This is Spain, France, Germany, many other countries, who have equally strong views as the United Kingdom."