The International Contact Group for Venezuela on Wednesday, 1 May, called on President Nicolás Maduro's regime and the political opposition led by self-proclaimed President Juan Guaidó to show “maximum restraint”.
This call follows clashes between supporters of the two sides following Tuesday's launch of the Operación Libertad by Mr Guaidó, which resulted in the deaths of two people and around 100 injured (see EUROPE 12245/19).
The Contact Group, which includes eight EU Member States and five Latin American countries, reaffirmed its support for “a political, peaceful, democratic and Venezuelan-owned solution to the crisis”, which will necessarily involve the organisation of “free and fair” presidential elections. It will meet on 6 and 7 May in San José (Costa Rica).
On the ground, each side competed on Thursday, 2 May, to demonstrate that the Venezuelan population had chosen it. Mr Guaidó, whose initiative failed to cut the Maduro regime off from the support of the Venezuelan military, declared a general strike. Ready to fight what he considers traitors to his country, Mr Maduro marched with the National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela to show that he still controls the country.
While in Brussels, Rick Perry, the US Secretary of State for Energy, hoped that, on the Venezuelan issue, “all of Europe is on the side of Americans and all those who love freedom”.
Member States' ambassadors to the EU (PSC) were talking about the situation in Venezuela as we went to press. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)