On Wednesday 31 May, the speaker of Venezuela's National Assembly and opposition member Julio Borges called on the European Parliament to help his country out of the political and economic crisis in which it has now been plunged for several months.
"We call on the European Parliament to help us establish a democratic agenda", he told the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee. "We need everybody's help to settle the problems in Venezuela (...) What we want is for a country working group to be created that could have the mandate of dealing with these problems. It is also important to count on the support of the European Parliament, the UN and the Vatican", he added. Borges said the Venezuelan problem went beyond the country's borders because it engenders immigration and jeopardises the peace in Colombia with traffickers and terrorism problems. He stated that over 60 people had died in demonstrations against the government.
Borges said that the proposal of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro to convene a constituent assembly, in which members would be appointed by social groups and according to electoral constituencies, was "a decoy", and he called on the European Parliament not to tolerate or legitimise a proposal for a solution "that will only make the country's situation more serious and more difficult".
However, beyond the political crisis, the country is faced with a real humanitarian tragedy. "My country is experiencing a situation that goes well beyond a political or ideological problem. The reality of the problem that prevails is humanitarian", Borges stated, adding that over 4,000 children have died of malnutrition and that the country has a shortage of medicines. "Here is a rich country, which is sitting on reserves of oil, gas and gold, and whose population is rummaging through dustbins to feed itself", he said.
Borges also officially asked the European Parliament to send a delegation to his country to see the situation with their own eyes. While he was supported by most of the MEPs present at his hearing, the majority of them Spanish-speaking, the members of the GUE Group supported Maduro more.
During a joint press conference with Borges, European Parliament President Antonio Tajani said that he would write to the presidents of the European Council and Commission so that measures might be taken against people who violate human rights in Venezuela. "We must act now. That's why we must examine other concrete means, such as the possibility of taking measures against senior Venezuelan officials", Tajani said. Last April, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on Venezuela, calling for democratic order to be restored (see EUROPE 11776). Since then the situation has continued to worsen. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)