Days before the May 20 presidential election, the Canadian government took the unprecedented step of barring some 6,000 Venezuelans living in Canada from voting.

Officials told the publicly-funded CBC that Canada would not allow voting to take place at Venezuela’s Embassy and consulates, but said Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro “is to blame for failing to allow his people to freely express their democratic rights.”

Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chrystia Freeland was among the delegates in the recent meeting of the so-called Lima group, where participating countries vowed to ramp up sanctions against Venezuela if the election went ahead.