Borrell will maintain dialogue with Maduro despite criticism in the European Parliament

The Vice President of the European Commission and High Representative for Foreign Policy of the European Union, Josep Borrell, will maintain his commitment to a dialogue solution in Venezuela, despite the bitter criticism that his latest attempt at mediation has garnered among various political groups in Parliament. European, in particular, between popular and liberal.

After a harsh debate in the European chamber this Wednesday, Borrell underlines in an interview with EL PAÍS, held in his Commission office, his intention to continue seeking, by all possible means, "a political agreement among Venezuelans."

The head of community diplomacy will resume the channel of contacts even if the Nicolás Maduro regime holds the elections scheduled for next December 6, elections that, according to Borrell, “will not be approved by the EU if they are carried out without participation of the opposition ”.

The commitment to the dialogue of the vice-president of the European Commission comes after the accusations launched against his department by the popular group in the European Parliament.

The attack has been led by the Spanish delegation of the conservative group, led by Dolors Montserrat MEP, and seconded, among others, by MEPs from Ciudadanos (from the liberal group Renew) and from Vox (integrated into the ultra-conservative group ECR).

Montserrat has accused Borrell of having sent Commission officials to Caracas on September 23 on a "semi-clandestine" diplomatic mission aimed at "whitewashing the Maduro regime."

The accusation has been repeated by other MEPs, the majority Spanish, but also of other nationalities, in particular, Portuguese and Italian.

"I did it and I will do it again," Borrell reaffirmed during the debate.

The head of community diplomacy has recalled time and again that the mission was by no means secret, that its members met publicly with all parties involved in the conflict, and that their task was part of the mediation attempts endorsed by the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the EU.

"A chain of lies and half-truths does not make a truth, but rather the confirmation that it hides deeply undemocratic contacts," Montserrat snapped to the vice president of the Commission.

"I take him at his word," Borrell replied.

“A chain of lies and half truths does not make a truth.

Apply the story.

I have done what I had to do.

I do not admit lessons on how to be a High Representative. "

The objective of the visit, according to the European External Action Service led by Borrell, was to explore the possibility of a postponement of the elections to allow time to create a favorable framework for the participation of opponents, led by the interim president, Juan Guaidó , recognized by more than 60 countries, and thus facilitate the EU to act as an international observer of the elections.

The visit unleashed the anger of the PP and also of the US administration of Donald Trump, contrary to any negotiated solution with Caracas.

But Brussels believes that elections with opposition participation could be a turning point in overcoming the endless political conflict in Venezuela.

For Borrell, this proposal does not represent support for Maduro.

“Has the opposition in Belarus whitewashed` [Aleksander] Lukashenko for participating in their elections?

On the contrary, it has put him in front of his own contradictions and has unleashed an international reaction, "he says.

"I do not understand what this tapping is about," says Borrell in his office.

"Last year there were three missions led by European officials and nothing happened."

Those missions were organized with Federica Mogherini as High Representative, since she yielded to the Spanish on December 1.

Mogherini also fought during her term (2014-2019) to seek a dialogue solution to a political crisis that has also become one of the greatest human crises on the planet.

Borrell believes that this Wednesday's debate, one of the harshest that has been experienced in the community chamber, “responds to a Spanish-Spanish dialectic, which attributes the diplomatic mission to an alleged conspiracy to favor the allies of Pedro's government. Sánchez and the Maduro regime ”.

The Venezuelan crisis has become a recurring theme in the European Parliament, especially since the emergence of Podemos in the 2014 European elections. The Popular Party has repeatedly brought the crisis in the Caribbean country to debates that, in Most of the time, they have become a scuffle between Spanish MEPs of different stripes.

"In the last five years we have approved 13 resolutions on Venezuela and only in this legislature [started in July of last year] we have already had five debates on the subject," said the socialist MEP Javi López.

His group, as well as the Greens and those of the United Left, supported Borrell's mediation attempts during the debate, considering that they are an inescapable part of his position.

Borrell acknowledges that his attempt to delay the elections has failed.

The Maduro regime has ensured that the postponement is incompatible with the Constitution and that the vote must be held before the end of the year.

“If they had told us earlier, we would have saved the mission,” adds the High Representative.

But not even the stubbornness of Caracas to hold the vote without international support will stop Brussels' mediation, according to Borrell.

"If the elections are held under current conditions, they will only contribute to deinstitutionalization of the regime and to an even greater international isolation," warns the senior European official.

But even then Brussels will not slam the door.

"That does not mean that we are not going to continue trying a political agreement, an agreement between Venezuelans," warns Borrell.