After losing control of the parliament, Juan Guaido, the leader of the Venezuelan opposition, was “betrayed” by the European Union. According to Reuters on the 7th, the 27 member states of the European Union agreed on the 6th that Guaidó no longer legally recognize Guaidó as the legitimate “provisional president” of Venezuela.
However, the European Union still refuses to recognize Maduro as the legitimate president.
Josep Borrell, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, issued a statement on behalf of the European Union on the same day, calling Guaidó “outgoing parliamentary representative” and saying that the EU will continue to “maintain cooperation” with Guaidó.
On the other hand, the statement continued to attack the Venezuelan parliamentary elections a month ago as “illegal”, “the credibility did not meet international standards, and the lack of participation of the Venezuelan people”.
The statement was unanimously agreed by the 27 EU member states, the European Commission spokesman Peter Stano explained.
This document reflects the position of the EU. The EU will continue to cooperate with Guaidó and other outgoing members of Parliament and continue to seek a peaceful, sustainable and democratic solution to the Venezuelan crisis. Stano said.
Two EU diplomats claimed that Guaidó remained one of the most important democrats in Venezuela, and the European Union refused to recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s president.
At present, the United States and the United Kingdom still recognize Guaidó as the legitimate national leader of Venezuela.
In the statement, the EU also strongly threatening to impose further sanctions on the Maduro government on the grounds of “human rights violations and undermining democracy”.
However, the statement issued by Borelli on the 6th also aroused the dissatisfaction of some European parliamentarians.
According to Euronews, Dita Charanzova, Vice President of the European Parliament, said that many members of the European Parliament regretted the decision because the European Parliament has always clearly supported Guaidó.
“I don’t know why Borelli made such a statement,” Charansova said. “I think one thing must be clear, that is, the EU must continue to support Venezuela’s ‘democratic forces’ and continue to recognize Guaidó as the legitimate representative of Venezuela.”
Leopoldo Lopez, a member of the European Parliament from Spain, asked Borelli to take a clearer position on the Guaidó issue.
Lopez said that Guaidó was “legal and irreplaceable” and that the EU must recognize Guaidó’s legitimacy and reject the Maduro government’s “attempt to usurp power”.
On December 6 last year, the Venezuelan Parliament held a new parliamentary election.
Maduro’s United Socialist Party and its coalition party won 253 of the 277 seats, achieving control of the parliament. The opposition alliance led by Guaidó lost its dominance over Parliament. Prior to this, Parliament was the only national legislature controlled by the opposition.
In the 2015 parliamentary election, the Venezuelan opposition coalition won a majority of seats and then went on to attack the Maduro government.
In January 2019, opposition leader and then President of Parliament Guaidó proclaimed himself “Provisional President” and was successively recognized by more than 50 countries led by the United States.
The Trump administration has also offered a series of economic sanctions to put extreme pressure on the Venezuelan government.
As Biden won the election, Maduro also threw an “olive branch” to Biden, one of the first national leaders to send congratulations to Biden.
Maduro tweeted: “Venezuela stands ready to engage in dialogue and understanding with the people and government of the United States.”
“The reputation of ‘provisional president’ Guaidó has declined, and where he should go has become a hot topic in politics recently.” On the 7th, Venezuela’s political website “Venezuelanalysis” said that it was believed that Guaidó and his accomplices were just puppets of Western countries such as the United States, and they must be tried immediately after the new parliament was established. Another view is more cautious.
They believe that Guaidó and others should indeed be severely punished, but Guaidó should be avoided being fired as a “martyr” and “martyr”, thus causing further damage to Venezuela.
