EU Adopts Two-Pronged ‘Pressure Trap’ in Response to Venezuelan Crisis

The European Union will combine an international diplomatic offensive and fresh engagement with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as part of a two-pronged “pressure trap” to try and stem the growing crisis in Venezuela.

A woman fills a container with water at a pumping station in San Juan de los Morros, Guarico state, Venezuela, on July 10, 2018. Federico Parra/AFP/Getty Images

BRUSSELS—The European Union will combine an international diplomatic offensive and fresh engagement with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as part of a two-pronged “pressure trap” to try and stem the growing crisis in Venezuela.

Officials in Brussels are mulling a new approach toward Caracas amid increasing alarm in Europe at the vast humanitarian catastrophe unveiling in the South American country.