The European Union has remained cautious about the situation in Venezuela, while the outcome of the Operación Libertad launched by self-proclaimed President Juan Guaidó, designed to oust the Maduro regime from power, remained totally uncertain on Tuesday 30 April.
The spokesperson of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Maja Kocijancic, recalled the EU's position in favour of a non-violent political solution to the Venezuelan political crisis.
At the EU Council, Member States' ambassadors to the EU discussed the situation on the ground where fighting was taking place in Caracas on Tuesday afternoon, and they will certainly take stock on Thursday. “EU Council bodies are following the situation very closely and stand ready to coordinate their position, if necessary”, a European source said.
The adoption in the coming hours of a new EU declaration reiterating the usual position could not be ruled out.
At this stage, the convening of an extraordinary meeting of foreign ministers does not seem to be required. The Foreign Affairs Council will discuss the situation in Venezuela on Monday 13 May after a third meeting of the International Contact Group on Venezuela (see EUROPE 12225/12) to be held in Costa Rica on 6 and 7 May.
A staunch defender of Mr Guaidó's cause, the President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, described the release of opposition leader Leopoldo López, one of the winners of the 2017 Sakharov Prize, by soldiers who had taken up the cause of Mr Guaidó, as a “historic moment for the restoration of democracy and freedom” in the country.
The events in Venezuela provoked immediate and polarised reactions. The United States and Colombia, for example, immediately supported the initiative of the President of the National Assembly, while the Maduro regime and the President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, denounced an ill-considered far-right enterprise supported by US imperialist aims. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)