The European Parliament on Thursday condemned Nicolás Maduro’s “usurpation of the presidency” of Venezuela with his inauguration on January 10th without having proven that he won the July 2024 elections, a move that it considers “an illegal attempt to remain in power by force.”
Approved by 374 votes in favour, 53 against and 163 abstentions, this is the second parliamentary resolution on Venezuela in the new European legislature, after an initial one last September in which the European Parliament recognised opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia as the elected and legitimate President of Venezuela.
The Council of the European Union, which represents the member states and has competence in foreign policy, recognises González Urrutia’s victory and does not consider Maduro to be the legitimate president.
Parliament, for its part, insisted on Thursday that the regime publish all the minutes (official records, actas) of the July elections and recalled that based on those presented by the democratic opposition and the declarations of the independent international organisations present at the elections, the MEPs recognise Edmundo González Urrutia as the winner of the Venezuelan presidential elections.
“The Venezuelan regime has missed a crucial opportunity to respect the will of the people and ensure a transparent democratic transition in the country and, consequently, Maduro lacks democratic legitimacy and is therefore not recognised by this Parliament,” they stated.
The MEPs believe that González Urrutia should have been the one to take the presidential oath on January 10th, 2025 and applauded “the resilience of the democratic opposition and the commitment of the Venezuelan people to democracy in the face of repression and adversity.”
“Respect for the will of the Venezuelan people as expressed in the elections remains the only way for Venezuela to restore democracy, enable a peaceful and genuine transition and resolve the current humanitarian and socio-economic crisis,” the EU parliament stated, while welcoming the fact that the EU has extended its sanctions on the regime over this crisis.
Even so, they demanded that these restrictive measures continue to be reinforced to include Nicolás Maduro himself, his closest circle and their families, including Jorge Rodríguez and Vladimir Padrino López, as well as all those responsible for human rights violations, the illegitimate claim to authority, the usurpation of official functions and all repressive acts in Venezuela.
With information from EFE news agency