European Parliament to debate Venezuela’s situation

The plenary session of the European Parliament (EP) The European Union will debate the situation in Venezuela next Tuesday and will vote on a resolution on Thursday on the European Union’s response to the political crisis in the country following the presidential elections that the majority opposition claims were won by its standard-bearer, Edmundo González Urrutia, currently in exile in Spain.

The debate at the plenary session in Strasbourg (France), which is scheduled for Tuesday at 17.30 local time, was requested by the European People’s Party (EPP), Socialists and Democrats (S&D), Patriots and Renew Europe groups.

The EU refuses to recognise the victory of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in the 28 July elections, as declared by the country’s National Electoral Council (CNE), due to the lack of evidence because not all the electoral records have been published.

On the 8th, on the occasion of González Urrutia’s exile in Spain, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, said that “Edmundo Gonzalez seems to be the winner of the presidential elections, by a large majority, according to the copies of the electoral records available to the public.”

And five days later, on the 13th, Borrell stressed that the EU does not recognize the «democratic legitimacy» of the Maduro government because “it says it has won the elections without proving it.”

In search of a consensual resolution

At a press conference in Madrid, the head of European diplomacy recalled that the EU cannot recognise governments or States because they are a power of the Member States, but what it can do is “recognise the democratic legitimacy of those who hold power, territorial control, the Army, the Police…”

That control, “in fact, was Maduro’s before the elections and remains Maduro’s after the elections. But we do not consider him a person who can claim democratic legitimacy for the power he holds,” Borrell added.

The different political groups in the European Parliament They will seek to reach a common resolution which they have until Wednesday at noon to present to vote, but they start from different positions on the recognition of González Urrutia.

The PPE’s resolution proposal, which was accessed EFEcalls on Member States and the EU to recognise the opposition candidate as president “legitimate and democratically elected president of Venezuela” and to do “everything possible” so that he can take office on January 10, 2025.

The Popular Party also asks the EU and the Twenty-Seven to “request an international arrest warrant against Nicolás Maduro for crimes against humanity” and that specific sanctions be applied to him and all those responsible for human rights violations in the country.

Regarding the resolution, Borrell recalled that the recognitions “may have a symbolic value” but “do not change reality.”

Consensus sought on Venezuela in the European Parliament

The Socialists and Democrats (S&D) are working on their draft proposal with the aim of reaching a consensus in the European Parliament “to have a solid resolution” together, said the group’s president, Iratxe García, last Thursday.

The group’s vice-president Yannis Maniatis gave hints in a statement on Friday about where the Socialists and Democrats’ proposal will go.

The S&D does not recognise the results of the last Venezuelan elections until Maduro presents “proof” of his election, as the “real numbers” indicate that «González Urrutia won the elections» and believes that “now is the time for the EU to step up its action and increase sanctions against the regime,” including “Maduro himself,” Maniatis said.

Meanwhile, from the liberal group of Renew Europe, the MEP of EAJ-PNV Oihane Agirregoitia promoted a resolution in which she requests to recognize Edmundo González as the “winner” of the presidential elections in Venezuela and to denounce the “seriousness” of the situation that the country is going through due to the repression of the “dictatorship” of Maduro, with more than two thousand “arbitrary” arrests after the elections.

The deadline for the groups in the European Parliament to submit their motions for resolutions ends on Monday at 19:00 local time.