Europe intimidates Maduro to call elections | In m …

Yesterday, the European Union has increased its pressure on the government of Nicolás Maduro stating that it would recognize as president of Venezuela the leader of the opposition, Juan Guaidó, in case he does not. There would be no elections in the coming days. At the same time, the member countries of the United Nations Security Council had a lively debate on the current situation in Venezuela. Meanwhile, the formation chaviste organized a triple attack: at the UN; in the streets and on Twitter. "Nobody will submit to us, the time of invasions and coups d'etat is over.We will never surrender!" Maduro tweeted almost simultaneously with the public speech delivered by Diosdado Cabello in the northeastern region of the country.

The European Union statement, agreed Friday in Brussels, arrived yesterday after Spain, France, Germany and the United Kingdom issued an eight-day ultimatum to call an election. free. "In the absence of announcement of new elections with the necessary guarantees in the coming days, the EU will take other measures, including on the issue of recognition of the leaders of the country in accordance with Article 233 of the Venezuelan Constitution, "said the representative. Federica Mogherini, EU foreign policy. The adoption of a common position on foreign policy in the European Union requires the consensus of the twenty-eight capitals, which in their communiqué did not set a maximum deadline for this call, contrary to what the Spain, France, Germany and the United Kingdom have fixed. ultimatum, who then joined Portugal and Holland. In its statement, the European Union reaffirmed that the last elections in this Caribbean country were neither free nor fair nor credible. She therefore supported the illegitimacy of Maduro's mandate. Towards the end of the declaration, they added their support to the opposition National Assembly, which they considered the only legitimate democratic institution in Venezuela.

On Wednesday, the head of the opposition National Assembly proclaimed himself Venezuela's interim president at a public ceremony in front of thousands of supporters, a fact that prompted immediate support from the United States and the United States group. Lima, but also supports Maduro after Guaidó's attempt to give a coup. That day, the EU had been more cautious in its statement. On behalf of the states of the union, Mogherini on Thursday expressed his full support for the National Assembly, which recognized it as an institution democratically elected by Venezuelans, but without going any further. However, yesterday Spain, Germany, France and the United Kingdom went further and set Sunday the deadline for the current occupant of the Miraflores Palace to call elections. The first to speak – and the only one to do so in public – was the president of the Spanish government, the Socialist Pedro Sánchez. In his speech, the President called for an immediate celebration of clean, democratic and transparent elections. "We are calling for free elections in Venezuela, a sister country that has been experiencing a serious political, democratic, economic and humanitarian crisis for many years, which has caused more than three million displaced people," he said vehemently, explaining that European countries were working on this proposal. since Wednesday. At the end of his speech, he confessed that at the meeting of the Davos Forum in Switzerland, several Latin American presidents had asked him to become the articulator of the EU's common position. As soon as the Spanish proposal was known, Maduro accused Sanchez of having repeated the scenario of the former Spanish general manager, José María Aznar, when he had backed the coup d'etat against the former president Hugo Chávez in 2002.

Shortly after Sanchez 's statement and via Twitter, the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, and the heads of the German and British governments joined the ultimatum. Macron, for his part, insisted: "The Venezuelan people must be able to decide freely on their future Without elections announced in 8 days, we could recognize Juan Guaidó as president in charge of Venezuela to implement this political process We work with our allies European countries. "

In addition, the head of the British diplomacy, Jeremy Hunt, said: "After banning candidates and committed many electoral irregularities, Maduro is not the legitimate leader of Venezuela." Guaidó is the right person to advance Venezuela. "Once the joint statement of the Twenty-eight was issued, other EU countries, such as the Netherlands and Portugal, also joined the ultimatum. .

But while European leaders were giving their views on Twitter, UN member countries have been face-to-face with Venezuela in the Security Council. The emissary of Maduro was Foreign Minister Jorge Arreza, who did not miss the opportunity to denounce the interference of the United States and the European Union: "Europe gives us eight days of what "Where do they get that they have the power to give us ultimatums? Why not hold elections in Spain or the UK?", He asked. For his part, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo launched: "Support the democratic aspirations of Venezuela while trying to free itself from the illegitimate mafia state of former President Maduro" . The US official has directly accused China and Russia of avoiding a common position on Venezuela: "China and Russia support a bankrupt regime in the hope of recovering billions of dollars in investment and badistance inconsiderate over This money has never been designed to help the Venezuelan people, but it has filled the pockets of the Maduro regime, its friends and its benefactors, "he added. Russia's Vbadily Nebenzia said the meeting convened by the United States is a breach of international law aimed at destabilizing the government. In addition to Russia, China also came back to support Venezuela, saying it posed no threat to international security and peace.