Washington and the EU refuse to recognize the Venezuelan elections
Despite the victory of the coalition supporting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in the legislative elections, Washington says it will continue to support Juan Guaido, and the EU will not recognize the results of a parliamentary election in Venezuela.
Washington said on Monday that it will continue to recognize Juan Guaido as president of Venzuela, which saw allies of President Nicolas Maduro win a majority.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement that Washington “will continue to recognize Interim Presdient Guaido and the legitimate National Assembly”, adding that that “The international community cannot allow Maduro, who is illegitimately in power because he manipulated the 2018 election, to gain from stealing a second election”.
Elliott Abrams, President Donald Trump’s special representative on Venezuela and Iran, said that “Trumps’ Administration will continue to support Guaido after Sunday’s elections”, expecting that “other countries will do the same”.
Abrams also threatened further U.S. sanctions against anyone responsible for “electoral fraud” in Venezuelan congressional elections scheduled for Sunday.
The European Union will not recognize the results of a parliamentary election in Venezuela.
The bloc’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said, in a statement issued on behalf of the 27 EU members, that the vote had “failed to comply with minimal international standards”.
“This lack of respect for political pluralism and the disqualification and prosecution of opposition leaders do not allow the EU to recognize this electoral process as credible, inclusive or transparent, and it prevent them to consider the results as representating the Venezuelan’s will,” Borrell added.
Borrell said the EU’s foreign ministers, who met in Brussels on Monday, urged “the Venezuelan authorities to begin a transition process towards a peaceful, inclusive and sustainable solution to the political crisis, through credible, inclusive and transparent presidential and legislative elections.”
The European Union renewed its sanctions against Caracas, and Maduro criticized “the European Union’s dependence on the policy of US President Donald Trump.”
The United States expanded the list of sanctions against Venezuela last September, and the US Department of Commerce added 47 new indivuals to the “blacklist”.
This comes despite the announcement made by the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Jorge Arreaza that the government of Venezuela called on the United Nations and the European Union to send observers to monitor the legislative elections.
Maduro and his left-wing allies won 67.7 percent of the 5.2 million voters, according to National Electoral Council President Indira Alfonzo.