The President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, is “the legitimate interim President” of Venezuela, said the European Parliament in a resolution by the EPP, S&D and Renew Europe groups, which it adopted on Thursday 9 July by a large majority (487 votes in favour, 119 against and 79 abstentions).
By January 2019, MEPs had already made such a declaration (see EUROPE 12184/9). On the other hand, the European Union recognises Mr Guaidó as the legitimate President of the National Assembly, but leaves it to the Member States to decide on the legitimacy of his self-proclamation as Acting President of Venezuela (see EUROPE 12499/8).
The Parliament denounces “the undemocratic appointment of new members to the National Electoral Council”, decided by the Supreme Court with a view to holding parliamentary elections in December, when, according to the Venezuelan Constitution, only the National Assembly is competent to do so (see EUROPE 12508/16).
For MEPs, the “only solution to end the political crisis” in the country is to urgently establish conditions for “credible” presidential and parliamentary elections, based on fair conditions for all stakeholders, transparency and the presence of reliable international observers. Such a solution “excludes any violent action or military operation”.
Finally, Parliament takes note of the sanctions recently imposed on 11 new dignitaries of the Maduro regime, bringing to 36 the number of Venezuelans sanctioned by the EU (see EUROPE 12516/28).
See Parliament’s resolution: https://bit.ly/2BNzirv (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)