European nations raise pressure on Maduro

Several more European Union nations on Monday recognized Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s interim president after embattled dictator Nicolás Maduro ignored a Sunday deadline to call for new elections. Britain, France, Germany, and Spain all urged Maduro to allow a national vote or resign. “We are working for the return of full democracy in Venezuela: human rights, elections, and no more political prisoners,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez told reporters in Madrid. Austria, Denmark, Lithuania, the Netherlands, and Sweden also threw support behind Guaidó. During a Sunday interview with the Spanish news show Salvados, Maduro said he would hold elections in 2024, adding, “We don’t care what Europe says.”

Thousands of protesters flooded the streets of Caracas on Saturday demanding Maduro step down, while Maduro’s supporters gathered in downtown areas of the capital city to celebrate the 20th anniversary of former President Hugo Chávez’s rise to power. In Spain, Venezuelan protesters rallied in Barcelona and Madrid to support Guaidó.

Several other nations, including the United States and some Latin American countries, already recognize Guaidó as president. In a Sunday interview on CBS, President Donald Trump said military intervention in Venezuela is still “an option.”