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Venezuela crisis: Spain to look to EU to decide stance over Guaidó's disputed presidency
24/01/2019
SPAIN'S government is on the fence over whether or not to officially recognise Juan Galdó as president of Venezuela after his surprise coup knocked Nicolás Maduro from power, with foreign affairs minister Josep Borrell saying his cabinet is reluctant to 'take impulse decisions'.
Borrell says Spain will wait to see what the European Union's verdict is before making an official statement, in the interests of 'unity' across the continent, or at least the 28-country bloc.
Foreign ministers from the EU-28 are set for an urgent meeting in the next few hours to 'evaluate the situation', Borrell reveals.
He has recently come out of the so-called Ágora Europa convention in Madrid's Casa de América, which his Portuguese counterpart Augusto Santos Silva also attended, but left just before the end to attend to a call from Spanish president Pedro Sánchez from the Davos International Forum, and another from the US embassy in Spain to find out its stance vis à vis Guaidó.
According to Borrell, during the last few EU foreign ministers' meetings, members had 'continually warned' of the possibility of a major political crossroads in Venezuela and how the 'determining power', once it happened, would 'lie in the hands of the Armed Forces' – but that, at that point, Europe was unsure 'where it was'.
Santos Silva called for the EU to 'act in a coordinated manner' and said it would not be enough for the rest of the western world to recognise Guaidó as president if the US decided to do so.
Borrell says that at present, his government's 'main concern' was 'the situation for the Spanish diaspora' in Venezuela, who include people of Venezuelan parents born in Spain and who had moved back there in adulthood, or Venezuelans who had returned after acquiring Spanish citizenship during a spell in Spain, as well as native Spaniards who had emigrated to the South American country.
In the hours that followed news of the coup, US president Donald Trump announced his government officially recognised Guaidó as 'interim president' of Venezuela in place of Nicolás Maduro.
Spain's right-wing opposition has largely followed suit.
Centre-right Ciudadanos' leader Albert Rivera's tweet at 19.51 on Wednesday urged the Spanish government to recognise Guaidó as president 'as the USA and Canada have done' so as to 'open the way for a democratic transition' in Venezuela that would 'restore freedom and voice to the people' of the country, whom, he says, have his 'full support'.
Leader of the right-wing PP, Pablo Casado, rather than 'asking' the Spanish government as Rivera has', 'demanded' it recognise Guaidó 'just as the world's main powers have done'.
“Maduro is a dictator who has usurped power at the expense of misery and brutal repression of the Venezuelans, and he should leave the government immediately,” Casado tweeted at 20.33 on Wednesday.
Far-right Vox's leader at national level, Santiago Abascal, followed Rivera's example in 'asking' Pedro Sánchez to 'urgently' recogisned Guaidó's presidency.
“We Spaniards who love freedom must show our support today for the Venezuelan people,” he tweeted at 20.13 on Wednesday.
“Down with the pro-Chávez tyranny! Long live a free Venezuela!” he concluded, referring to Maduro's predecessor Hugo Chávez who died from cancer, allowing the reins to be handed to the former.
Abascal, whose party has just 12 seats in Andalucía's regional government but none in the other 16 federal Parliaments or in national government, also retweeted US Vice President Mike Pence's message: “As the good people of Venezuela make your voices heard tomorrow, on behalf of the American people, we say: estamos con ustedes [we're with you]. We are with you. We stand with you, and we will stay with you until Democracy is restored and you reclaim your birthright of Libertad [Freedom].”
Pedro Sánchez's allies in 'opposition', left-wing Podemos, had a message which went starkly against that of the right-wing faction in Parliament: its leader Pablo Iglesias tweeted, at 22.10 on Wednesday: “Trump and his allies are not interested in democracy or human rights in Venezuela; they're only interested in its oil. Spain and Europe must defend international legality, dialogue and peaceful mediation, not a coup d'état.”
Whilst all this was happening in cyberspace and outside the Casa de América in Madrid, thousands of Venezuelan expats living in Spain gathered in the capital's central Puerta del Sol square, bearing their national flags (second picture).
Juan Guaidó declared himself 'interim president' during mass protests in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, against Nicolás Maduro's régime – demonstrations during which 13 people were killed.
Guaidó addressed the crowds, swearing to 'formally accept the competences of the presidency' and calling Maduro an 'illegitimate' leader and the pro-Chávez, or chavista government 'usurpers'.
Maduro started his second term of office a fortnight ago after an electoral process which ended on May 20, 2018 and which his dissidents considered 'fraudulent'.
Guaidó says he wants to 'implement a government of transition' to democracy and hold 'free and open elections'.
“We know this is nothing to do with just one person; we know this is going to bring consequences; we know what's needed to keep us in the streets of Venezuela until we achieve democracy,” Guaidó announced.
He spoke of an 'unstoppable process' to restore democratic rights and for 'hope' to be 'reborn'.
Guaidó had been arrested on January 13 for heading up an anti-Chávez speech, but was released after a few hours.
The disputed new president had taken over as the voice of his mentor, Leopoldo López, who is currently under house arrest in Caracas as a Maduro dissenter.
Elsewhere in the world, the White House has guaranteed 'repercussions' on its part if Maduro fights the situation using violence, whilst Canada, Brazil, Colombia, Perú, Ecuador, Paraguay, México, Russia and Costa Rica came forward almost immediately to announce they recognised Guaidó as president, but Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel expressed his support of Maduro in the face of 'imperialist attempts to discredit and destabilise the Bolivarian Revolution'.
The EU's official stance has not yet been clarified, but it has expressed its 'total support' for the Venezuelan National Assembly and called for an 'immediate', 'free', 'open' and 'credible' election process to begin 'in line with Constitutional order'.
Head of foreign policy for the EU Federica Mogherini said: “The Venezuelan people have called en masse for democracy and the chance of freedom of self-determination, and these voices cannot be ignored.”
It does appear Europe may fall on Guaidó's side, judging from initial comments made by high-ranking EU officials – European Commission president Donald Tusk says the bloc 'is united in its support of democratic forces' and referred to Guaidó's 'democratic mandate', whilst European Parliamentary president Antonio Tajani said that 'unlike Maduro', Guaidó 'does indeed have democratic legitimacy'.
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SPAIN'S government is on the fence over whether or not to officially recognise Juan Galdó as president of Venezuela after his surprise coup knocked Nicolás Maduro from power, with foreign affairs minister Josep Borrell saying his cabinet is reluctant to 'take impulse decisions'.
Borrell says Spain will wait to see what the European Union's verdict is before making an official statement, in the interests of 'unity' across the continent, or at least the 28-country bloc.
Foreign ministers from the EU-28 are set for an urgent meeting in the next few hours to 'evaluate the situation', Borrell reveals.
He has recently come out of the so-called Ágora Europa convention in Madrid's Casa de América, which his Portuguese counterpart Augusto Santos Silva also attended, but left just before the end to attend to a call from Spanish president Pedro Sánchez from the Davos International Forum, and another from the US embassy in Spain to find out its stance vis à vis Guaidó.
According to Borrell, during the last few EU foreign ministers' meetings, members had 'continually warned' of the possibility of a major political crossroads in Venezuela and how the 'determining power', once it happened, would 'lie in the hands of the Armed Forces' – but that, at that point, Europe was unsure 'where it was'.
Santos Silva called for the EU to 'act in a coordinated manner' and said it would not be enough for the rest of the western world to recognise Guaidó as president if the US decided to do so.
Borrell says that at present, his government's 'main concern' was 'the situation for the Spanish diaspora' in Venezuela, who include people of Venezuelan parents born in Spain and who had moved back there in adulthood, or Venezuelans who had returned after acquiring Spanish citizenship during a spell in Spain, as well as native Spaniards who had emigrated to the South American country.
In the hours that followed news of the coup, US president Donald Trump announced his government officially recognised Guaidó as 'interim president' of Venezuela in place of Nicolás Maduro.
Spain's right-wing opposition has largely followed suit.
Centre-right Ciudadanos' leader Albert Rivera's tweet at 19.51 on Wednesday urged the Spanish government to recognise Guaidó as president 'as the USA and Canada have done' so as to 'open the way for a democratic transition' in Venezuela that would 'restore freedom and voice to the people' of the country, whom, he says, have his 'full support'.
Leader of the right-wing PP, Pablo Casado, rather than 'asking' the Spanish government as Rivera has', 'demanded' it recognise Guaidó 'just as the world's main powers have done'.
“Maduro is a dictator who has usurped power at the expense of misery and brutal repression of the Venezuelans, and he should leave the government immediately,” Casado tweeted at 20.33 on Wednesday.
Far-right Vox's leader at national level, Santiago Abascal, followed Rivera's example in 'asking' Pedro Sánchez to 'urgently' recogisned Guaidó's presidency.
“We Spaniards who love freedom must show our support today for the Venezuelan people,” he tweeted at 20.13 on Wednesday.
“Down with the pro-Chávez tyranny! Long live a free Venezuela!” he concluded, referring to Maduro's predecessor Hugo Chávez who died from cancer, allowing the reins to be handed to the former.
Abascal, whose party has just 12 seats in Andalucía's regional government but none in the other 16 federal Parliaments or in national government, also retweeted US Vice President Mike Pence's message: “As the good people of Venezuela make your voices heard tomorrow, on behalf of the American people, we say: estamos con ustedes [we're with you]. We are with you. We stand with you, and we will stay with you until Democracy is restored and you reclaim your birthright of Libertad [Freedom].”
Pedro Sánchez's allies in 'opposition', left-wing Podemos, had a message which went starkly against that of the right-wing faction in Parliament: its leader Pablo Iglesias tweeted, at 22.10 on Wednesday: “Trump and his allies are not interested in democracy or human rights in Venezuela; they're only interested in its oil. Spain and Europe must defend international legality, dialogue and peaceful mediation, not a coup d'état.”
Whilst all this was happening in cyberspace and outside the Casa de América in Madrid, thousands of Venezuelan expats living in Spain gathered in the capital's central Puerta del Sol square, bearing their national flags (second picture).
Juan Guaidó declared himself 'interim president' during mass protests in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, against Nicolás Maduro's régime – demonstrations during which 13 people were killed.
Guaidó addressed the crowds, swearing to 'formally accept the competences of the presidency' and calling Maduro an 'illegitimate' leader and the pro-Chávez, or chavista government 'usurpers'.
Maduro started his second term of office a fortnight ago after an electoral process which ended on May 20, 2018 and which his dissidents considered 'fraudulent'.
Guaidó says he wants to 'implement a government of transition' to democracy and hold 'free and open elections'.
“We know this is nothing to do with just one person; we know this is going to bring consequences; we know what's needed to keep us in the streets of Venezuela until we achieve democracy,” Guaidó announced.
He spoke of an 'unstoppable process' to restore democratic rights and for 'hope' to be 'reborn'.
Guaidó had been arrested on January 13 for heading up an anti-Chávez speech, but was released after a few hours.
The disputed new president had taken over as the voice of his mentor, Leopoldo López, who is currently under house arrest in Caracas as a Maduro dissenter.
Elsewhere in the world, the White House has guaranteed 'repercussions' on its part if Maduro fights the situation using violence, whilst Canada, Brazil, Colombia, Perú, Ecuador, Paraguay, México, Russia and Costa Rica came forward almost immediately to announce they recognised Guaidó as president, but Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel expressed his support of Maduro in the face of 'imperialist attempts to discredit and destabilise the Bolivarian Revolution'.
The EU's official stance has not yet been clarified, but it has expressed its 'total support' for the Venezuelan National Assembly and called for an 'immediate', 'free', 'open' and 'credible' election process to begin 'in line with Constitutional order'.
Head of foreign policy for the EU Federica Mogherini said: “The Venezuelan people have called en masse for democracy and the chance of freedom of self-determination, and these voices cannot be ignored.”
It does appear Europe may fall on Guaidó's side, judging from initial comments made by high-ranking EU officials – European Commission president Donald Tusk says the bloc 'is united in its support of democratic forces' and referred to Guaidó's 'democratic mandate', whilst European Parliamentary president Antonio Tajani said that 'unlike Maduro', Guaidó 'does indeed have democratic legitimacy'.
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