The foreign ministers of the 27 EU countries insist on the need for Venezuela to publish the electoral records. But, unlike the United States, the Union does not recognize opposition leader Edmundo González as the winner of the presidential elections.
The delicate situation in the country after the questioned elections of July 28 has been debated this Thursday during the last Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union celebrated in Brussels. The EU has officially asked the Venezuelan authorities for the minutes electoral.
The current president, Nicolás Maduro, was declared winner by the National Electoral Council with 51.9% of the votes. But the opposition led by Maria Corina Machadowho has designated a candidate for Edmundo González, denounces irregularities in the count and voting, also defined as not very transparent by the team UN observers sent to the country and by the Carter Center.
EU movements
The opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzálezwhom USA recognized as the real election winneralso spoke at the meeting of foreign ministers via video connection.
But the European Union does not go that far and, in a press conference, the high representative for Foreign Affairs limits itself to stating that “according to the copies of the published voting ballots, Edmundo González seems to be the winner of the presidential elections with a significant majority.”
Spain’s position
According to the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel AlbaresChavismo will not publish the minutes. “We have to surrender to the evidence that those documents are not going to be presented, noor is there a will to present them and, therefore, to verify them’.
In his opinion, “once the EU has confirmed that there is no will to hand over the minutes, we have to think about what we can do to ensure that they are respect the will of the Venezuelans’.
Specifically, the hypothesis of sanction other members of the Government and the Venezuelan National Assembly, in addition to the 55 who are already on the European blacklist.
An insufficient measure
By itself, this gesture of condemnation on the part of Europe would be insufficient according to Nelson Dordelly Rosales, European Affairs advisor at Democratic Unitary Platformthe coalition opposing Maduro.
“The sanctions can be expanded: 55 individuals are not enough. But, at the same time, the EU should be more creative and use other instruments of international diplomatic action,” he says.
One idea, for example, would be the creation of a special EU envoy for Venezuelaas has been done for other turbulent regions of the world.**
Dordelly Rosales lives in Brussels and follows the strategy of the EU institutions on Venezuela. In his opinion, the main objective is to break the link between the Maduro Government and the Venezuelan armywhich has allowed him to remain in power for more than a decade.
Help the democratic transition
“Another potential incentive would be an aid package linked to Venezuela’s democratic transition. Once the Venezuelan transition is underway or moving in the right direction, this financial package would be available to the reconstruction of the democratic system in the country,” he says.
“These incentives could serve to dblock this situationin which there is a ‘de facto’ authority that depends on military supportr to stay in power.” Some EU countries, explains Nelson Dordelly Rosales, have a more critical stance towards the Maduro Government; others, such as Spain and Portugal are more inclined to dialogue.
