Borrell describes the Venezuelan government as a “dictatorial and authoritarian regime” in an interview with Telecinco

( Spanish) – The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, said that the government of Nicolás Maduro “is a dictatorial and authoritarian regime,” in statements to the Spanish channel Telecinco.

“In Venezuela, more than 2,000 people have been detained since the elections, the opposition leader has had to flee and political parties are subject to a thousand restrictions on their actions,” the official said.

Borrell added that “Venezuela has called elections, but it was not a democracy before and it is even less so after.”

The European official’s statements come a week after candidate Edmundo González Urrutia arrived in Spain, where he was offered political asylum after receiving an arrest warrant in Venezuela against him for alleged crimes related to the publication of election results on a website, charges he has repeatedly denied.

Since the evening of July 28, the National Electoral Council of Venezuela (CNE) declared Maduro the winner, a declaration ratified weeks later by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ). However, to date, the minutes of the elections broken down by voting table have not been published, a measure that several countries consider necessary to make the race transparent.

Borrell previously said that González’s arrival in Spain marked a “sad day for democracy.”

“Faced with repression, political persecution and direct threats against his safety and freedom, after having received hospitality at the residence of the Netherlands in Caracas until September 5, the political leader and presidential candidate Edmundo González has had to ask for political asylum and accept the protection offered to him by Spain.”Borrell said in a statement.

“Edmundo González, according to the publicly available copies of the minutes, would be the presidential candidate who won the elections by a large majority. In a democracy, no political leader should be forced to seek asylum in another country,” he added.