PARIS — Key European leaders have overwhelmingly backed opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s interim president after President Nicolás Maduro ignored a demand by seven European Union states that he call snap elections by Sunday in a move to resolve the country’s political and economic crisis.
Spain, France, Britain and Germany followed through on their promise, and by noon Monday a total of 13 European nations had joined in solidarity with Guaidó, recognizing him as president. The 28-member European Union overall, however, was unable to agree on a unified position due in part to Italy’s opposition, according to a French diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
The United States recognized Guaidó, who heads Venezuela’s National Assembly, in late January when he declared himself the country’s legitimate leader after maintaining that a presidential election last year was rigged to keep Maduro in power. In a taped interview that aired on CBS News on Sunday, President Trump said that military action in Venezuela against Maduro remains “an option.”
In Europe, undeniably the most outspoken political leader against Maduro was Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. Spain is one of the main destinations for migrants from Venezuela, many of whom have fled Maduro’s rule and the continuing humanitarian crisis. According to U.N. statistics, as many as 208,300 Venezuelans have arrived in Spain.
In a video statement posted on Twitter, Sánchez recognized Guaidó as interim leader and called for new elections “as soon as possible.”
“Elections that are free, democratic, with guarantees and without exclusions, in which Venezuelans decide, with their voice and vote, their future, without fear, pressure or threats,” he said. “It is, definitely, the people of Venezuela who have to decide its future.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said much the same. “Venezuelans have the right to express themselves freely and democratically,” he wrote Monday on Twitter.
After British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt confirmed that his country would join those backing Guaidó, a spokesman for Prime Minister Theresa May said London was studying the possible sanctions.
“Venezuelan people deserve a better future. They have suffered enough, and the Maduro regime must end. It is time for free and fair elections,” the spokesman told reporters, according to Reuters. “We are looking at what further steps we can take to ensure peace and democracy in Venezuela including through sanctions.”
[Venezuela’s opposition leader calls movement against Maduro ‘unstoppable’]
In a statement, Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry rejected the announcements by European countries, charging that they were “officially joining the U.S.’s strategy to overthrow the legitimate government of President Nicolás Maduro.”
The government, it said, will “completely revise bilateral relations with those countries from now on.”
Maduro fired back personally at his international critics during a military exercise Monday morning in the state of Aragua, east of Caracas. In the past week, the leader has attended numerous exercises and spoken to soldiers, likely because of the major role the military will play in determining his future.
“I call to reject intervention,” he said, urging the soldiers to defend the country against “Yankee imperialism.”
“The coward government of Spain has made a terrible decision in the history of relations between Spain and Venezuela. I tell Pedro Sánchez, God forbid, but if some day a coup takes place, your hands will be tainted with blood,” he said. He added that “no one imposes an ultimatum on Venezuela.”
The moves by European powers further isolate Maduro, who has already lost the recognition of a host of nations including the United States, Canada, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina and Israel.
If all European countries follow in the footsteps of the Trump administration, their decision to recognize Guaidó could potentially cut the Venezuelan government off from any accounts or assets in those countries. Already, the Bank of England has reportedly denied a request by Maduro to repatriate $1.3 billion worth of Venezuelan gold being kept in its vaults.
“The unity of positions in the modern and most influential foreign powers leaves Maduro isolated and weakened, and it strengthens Guaidó’s leadership internally,” said Luis Vicente Leon, a political analyst and director of the Datanalisis polling agency.
E.U. support, opposition leaders say, may also help break the Maduro government’s narrative that Venezuela’s crisis is simply a proxy war between the United States and Russia.
“It marks this fight not as a fight of Trump versus Maduro or Latin America versus Maduro but a fight that is of the world against Maduro,” said Julio Borges, an exiled opposition politician who has been key in building Guaidó’s strategy.
In Ottawa, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who recognized Guaidó on Sunday as interim president, announced $53 million in humanitarian aid for Venezuela. “It’s an important moment to support Venezuelans,” Trudeau said at a meeting of the Lima Group, a 14-nation body formed in 2017 to address the Venezuelan crisis.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas separately announced Monday that his country would freeze $5.7 million in aid to Venezuela but would provide the funds when circumstances there allow it.
The United States promised $20 million in aid last week. In a massive anti-Maduro protest on Saturday, Guaidó said aid convoys would start to arrive this week. He said he would call for demonstrations this week to pressure security forces to let the aid in, as Maduro has refused assistance that he describes as veiled intervention by “imperialist countries.”
In Caracas, Guaidó has been welcoming each country’s move one by one on Twitter.
Early Monday, he posted Macron’s tweet and wrote: “We thank President Emmanuel Macron and the whole French government for supporting our fight. Together we will achieve the end of usurpation, the transition government and free elections for the recovery of our country. #EuropaiswithVenezuela.”
As a bloc, the European Union has not gone so far as to recognize Guaidó, although it also set a deadline for a new round of elections.
Federica Mogherini, the E.U. foreign policy chief, said in Brussels last week that “further sanctions” would be considered, but any such measure would require unanimity on the part of all E.U. member states. Some, notably Italy, under the control of a right-wing populist government, have refused to recognize Guaidó.
In the words of Luigi di Maio, Italy’s deputy prime minister, Guaidó has “not been elected by the people” as president.
Krygier and Faiola reported from Miami. Quentin Ariès in Brussels contributed to this report.
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