Hold election in 8 days
Spain, France and Germany put embattled Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro on notice ahead of an UN Security Council meeting yesterday, saying they would recognise opposition leader Juan Guaido as president unless he calls elections within eight days.
The ultimatum comes as international pressure mounts on the Maduro regime to agree to a new vote, after the United States, Canada and major South American players recognised Guaido, who proclaimed himself acting president of Venezuela during massive street rallies this week.
After four years of economic pain that has left Venezuelans short of food and medicine and driven more than two million to flee, Guaido is trying to oust Maduro following controversial elections that saw the socialist leader sworn in for a second term.
"If within eight days there are no fair, free and transparent elections called in Venezuela, Spain will recognise Juan Guaido as Venezuelan president" so that he himself can call such polls, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a televised announcement.
French President Emmanuel Macron followed suit in a tweet, saying "the Venezuelan people must be able to freely decide on their future," as did German government spokeswoman Martina Fietz.
The coordinated announcements are the most explicit yet from EU countries as the 28-member bloc struggles to draft a joint statement with regards to its position on the crisis in Venezuela.
For his part, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo yesterday urged UN Security Council members to recognise Guaido as interim president.
But countries like Austria, Greece and Portugal are much more reluctant. Greece's ruling party Syriza has publicly backed Maduro, with party secretary Panos Skourletis voicing "full support and solidarity" to what to he called "the legal president".
Maduro also has the support of Russia, whose foreign minister Sergei Lavrov denounced US policy on Venezuela as "destructive".
At the UNSC meet, Russia attempted to block the US move, accusing it of plotting a coup against Maduro.
Maduro's reelection last year was contested by the opposition and rejected by the US, EU and UN as a sham -- but he has until now retained the loyalty of the powerful military.
Guaido has rejected an offer of talks with Maduro, saying he won't attend a "fake dialogue" on a crisis that has left 26 dead in clashes this week between anti-Maduro activists and security forces.
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