The cold shower was harsh for Juan Guaido, self-proclaimed interim president of Venezuela on January 23, 2019 and his supporters: the European Union no longer recognizes him as the legitimate president of Venezuela.
This Monday, January 25, the European Council, if it reaffirms that it does not recognize the result of the legislative elections of December 6, no longer considers Juan Guaido as president of the National Assembly and interim president of the Republic.
The European Union takes note of the end of the legislature of deputies elected in 2015 and does not intend to follow Juan Guaido in his desire to extend his mandate
"until fair and free presidential and legislative elections are organized"
.
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For several weeks we had felt the embarrassment in the European chancelleries.
If since January 2019, support for Juan Guaido has been unwavering, it was starting to be difficult to continue to consider Juan Guaido as the legitimate president of the country when he was no longer a deputy according to the constitution.
Moreover, the power of Juan Guaido was purely symbolic.
By relying on democratic legitimacy to claim to hold political power when he was devoid of any decision-making capacity, he tired Venezuelans plunged into a terrible economic, social and political crisis who heard the speeches of Juan Guaido , its announcements of decisions without any effect on their daily lives.
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January 23 should have been a day of celebration of the two years of interim presidency.
Instead, Juan Guaido has kept a very low profile.
His desire to remain in his position as interim president was not understood.
Many are surprised that they have wanted to maintain a failed strategy for many months.
Until now, there is no direct reaction from Juan Guaido to the statements made by Josep Borrel on Monday, who is content to say that
"we must continue to explore all avenues aimed at solving the political problem"
of Venezuela.
Isadora Zubillaga, Juan Guaido's representative in France, responded by email very firmly.
She regrets that the representative of European diplomacy
“speaks of the real president of the country as one of the representatives of the outgoing National Assembly.
This formulation may seem irrelevant but it ignores the will of the Venezuelan people… It sends the wrong message to Nicolas Maduro and his supporters… It is not time for the European Union to turn its back on Venezuelan democracy… The interim government is the only democratic body in the country ”.
Read also: Venezuela: the common front around Juan Guaido is cracking
For now, the European Union is the only international body to have officially released Juan Guaido.
The United States and Colombia officially continue to regard Juan Guaido as the sole legitimate representative of Venezuela.
Joe Biden, the new American president, seems to want to stay in this line, but until when?
Juan Guaido no longer has a mandate, no longer has the support of the population and no longer any power to counter the initiatives of Nicolás Maduro.
It seems that the Venezuelan opposition has missed this transitional episode by locking itself in a denial of reality.
The government of Nicolás Maduro was only waiting for this to advance its pawns as it seeks new investors to bring the country out of hell where he himself plunged it.
