EU states should recognize Juan Guaidó as the Venezuelan head of state

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Juan Guaidó at a demonstration in Caracas (archive image)

Photo: MANAURE QUINTERO / REUTERS

More than two years ago, Juan Guaidó declared himself interim president of Venezuela - but the controversial President Nicolás Maduro is still in power in the country.

Now, according to the Reuters news agency, the European Parliament is once again putting pressure on the EU states with a resolution to clearly stand behind long-time opposition leader Guaidó as interim president.

In the resolution passed by a large majority of parliamentarians, the EU member states are asked to recognize the National Assembly elected in 2015 in Venezuela and Juan Guaidó as "legitimate interim president of Venezuela".

The EU Parliament had already recognized Guaidó as Venezuela's interim president in 2019.

According to the news site »Politico«, members of the EU Parliament recently criticized a statement by the EU foreign affairs officer Josep Borell, which spoke of the »outgoing« National Assembly in Venezuela.

Some MPs saw the choice of words as a silent admission of Guaidó's defeat in the controversial parliamentary election in December.

There the opposition had clearly lost their majority.

The socialists of Venezuelan President Maduro, on the other hand, had brought under their control the last institution in the South American country to be dominated by the opposition.

The resolution of the European Parliament is not binding on the EU states, but is still considered an important political signal.

The EU foreign affairs representative Josep Borell told Reuters that the EU states continue to see Guaidó as an opposition leader and an important figure for new presidential elections in Venezuela.

The EU states, like Great Britain and the USA, had not recognized the December election results.

US Secretary of State Blinken calls Maduro a "brutal dictator"

The new US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken had already announced on Tuesday that he would continue to support Guaidó.

Venezuela's incumbent head of state Maduro described Blinken as a “brutal dictator”.

The two countries have no longer had diplomatic relations since the 2019 election.

Maduro is apparently hoping for a restart of relations after the change of power in the White House.

After years of "brutality" under Biden's predecessor Donald Trump, "a new page" must be opened, Maduro said in a televised address.

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