The EU does not recognize Maduro as president and Spain puts sanctions on the regime on the table

BRUSSELS, Aug. 29 () –

The European Union agreed on Thursday that it will not recognise the legitimacy of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, given the lack of progress in getting the electoral authorities to present official records that can prove his victory, while Spain has proposed to its other European partners the option of applying sanctions against the regime, a point that nevertheless does not yet have the necessary unanimity.

“A month later, there is no hope that the minutes will be presented. It is too late to continue asking for this. There are no minutes or verification and we regret that there never will be any,” said the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, in a press conference after the meeting with the ministers of the branch following the informal meeting held in Brussels.

In this regard, he said that the EU will not recognise Maduro’s legitimacy as president. “He has no democratic legitimacy as president. He will continue as de facto president but we deny his democratic legitimacy in the face of results that cannot be verified,” added the head of European diplomacy, after indicating that his electoral victory “has not been proven” and the EU “has no reason to believe it.”

“We do not consider him to be a democratically elected president and in each case there will be consequences,” he said, pointing out that the EU will in any case have to continue to interact with Caracas, just as it does with other countries that his government does not recognise, such as Nicaragua, a country he cited as an example.

SPAIN PROPOSES SANCTIONS ALTHOUGH WITHOUT UNANIMITY

In addition, at Thursday’s meeting, Spain has demanded that the rest of its European partners apply sanctions against the regime once it assumes that the electoral authorities will not present the official minutes, although this option has not achieved the necessary consensus to move forward.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, has arrived at the informal meeting of European foreign ministers asking that European partners study “tools” to promote internal dialogue between Caracas and the opposition.

Spain’s initiative has not received much support from the High Representative, who has stressed that the EU already has sanctions against around fifty Venezuelan leaders. “We have reached almost the highest level. Maduro is not on the list, nor is Jorge Rodríguez and a few others. More sanctions would mean going against the top officials and there are two or three who are not already sanctioned,” he explained.

In this regard, Borrell has indicated that Member States prefer to wait and see how events unfold and wait to see if the Venezuelan government seeks some kind of negotiation.

For the moment, the 27 are betting on intensifying dialogue with regional actors, such as Brazil and Colombia, who are leading the mediation to find a way out of the crisis and are focusing on internal repression in the Latin American country, ensuring that “everything possible” must be done to preserve the physical integrity of opposition leaders.