EU Parliament recognises Maduro rival as Venezuela president

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Venezuela’s exiled opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia has won more international support for his claim to be the troubled nation’s true president.

The European Parliament on Thursday passed a resolution recognising González Urrutia as Venezuela’s legitimate head of state, after incumbent Nicolás Maduro claimed victory in a disputed election.

The vote – which is non-binding and does not reflect the stance of EU countries – came after centre-right lawmakers teamed up with a new far-right grouping in a move decried by the left.

González Urrutia, who fled to Spain last week, claims he was the winner of the July presidential election that gave Maduro a third six-year term.

The United States has recognised González Urrutia as the winner of the election, as have several other nations, including Argentina.

However, Spain and other European Union nations have so far limited themselves to refusing to accept Maduro as the victor and calling on the Venezuelan government to release the voting tally sheets.

"The EU should do its utmost to ensure that Edmundo González Urrutia, the legitimate and democratically elected President of Venezuela, can take office on 10 January 2025," the European Parliament said.

The lawmakers – who passed the resolution by 309 votes for to 201 against – also urged the 27-nation bloc to impose sanctions on "Maduro and his inner circle."

González Urrutia, 75, thanked the European Parliament for the vote, calling it "the recognition of the sovereign will of the people of Venezuela".

‘Coerced’

González Urrutia said Wednesday he had been coerced into signing a letter distributed by Venezuelan authorities in which he supposedly conceded defeat to Maduro.

In the letter, dated September 7 and addressed to National Assembly leader Jorge Rodríguez, González Urrutia said "I respect" the regime-aligned CNE electoral council's proclamation of Maduro as the winner of the July 28 vote.

But on Wednesday, the diplomat published a message on X from Madrid, where he was given asylum after weeks in hiding in Venezuela, saying he was made to sign the letter in exchange for being allowed to leave.

Maduro’s aides brought him the letter at the Spanish Embassy in Caracas and, he wrote, "I had to either sign it or deal with the consequences."

González Urrutia added "there were very tense hours of coercion, blackmail and pressure. At that point, I considered I could be of more use free than if I were imprisoned." The letter, he said, was worthless as it was tainted by "coercion."

Within hours of polls closing last July 28, the CNE declared Maduro the victor with 52 percent of votes cast.

The opposition immediately cried foul and dozens of countries refused to recognise Maduro's claim to a third six-year term unless the CNE published a detailed vote breakdown, which it has not.

The opposition presented its own figures based on polling-station-level counts that it says proves González Urrutia won by a landslide.

Gonzalez Urrutia vowed on Wednesday that "as the president elected by millions and millions of Venezuelans who voted for change, democracy and peace, I will not be silenced."

He left for Spain under the cloud of an arrest warrant – condemned by the international community – for "serious crimes" related to his insistence that Maduro had stolen the vote.

González Urrutia had ignored three successive summonses to appear before prosecutors investigating him for alleged crimes including "usurpation" of public functions, "forgery" of a public document, incitement to disobedience and sabotage.

The charges stem from the opposition's publication of voting results, which the government says only authorised institutions have the right to do.

The CNE has said it cannot publish the voting records as hackers had corrupted the data, though observers have said there was no evidence of such interference.

González Urrutia replaced opposition leader María Corina Machado on the ballot at the last minute after she was barred from running by institutions loyal to the Maduro regime.

She, too, has been mostly in hiding since the vote, except for appearing at a handful of organised demonstrations.

On Wednesday, Machado said Maduro's "best option – and I would say that soon, it will be his only option" would be to accept the terms of negotiation for "a democratic transition."

"Today, Maduro feels that he can kill people and nothing will happen. And that is starting to change," she told Argentina's LN+ new channel.

Maduro has managed to cling to power despite sanctions stepped up after his 2018 re-election, also dismissed as a sham by dozens of countries.

– TIMES/AFP

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