The European Parliament approved a new resolution on Venezuela this Thursday, accusing Nicolás Maduro of "usurping" power in the country and demanding more sanctions against the dictator, "his inner circle and their families, including Jorge Rodríguez and Vladimir Padrino López." However, the resolution does not recognize Edmundo González as the elected president of the country in its main requests, as explained by socialist sources, due to the veto imposed by the PSOE group in exchange for their vote.
The resolution was passed with the support of the PP and Renew, who promoted the document along with ECR (Giorgia Meloni's party, which partially voted yes), and also the S&D. A very broad majority, with 374 votes in favor, 53 against, and 163 abstentions, different from the one that passed the resolution in September, which included Vox's Patriots, for example.
The goal of the PP, according to popular sources, was indeed to pass the resolution with a large majority to give it more strength and importance. Therefore, they agreed to exclude the term "elected president" from the recommendations but included it in the previous considerations. "Considering that he should have taken office on January 10, 2025; that on December 17, 2024, the Parliament awarded the 2024 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to María Corina Machado, as the leader of Venezuela's democratic forces, and to the elected president Edmundo González Urrutia, on behalf of all Venezuelans," it is pointed out in this part that serves as a kind of contextualization of the vote.
However, in the recommendations, it is stated that "based on the electoral records presented by the democratic opposition to the regime and as declared by independent international organizations," Edmundo González is the "legitimate winner of the presidential elections." But it does not mention him as the elected president again.
"We do not urge anyone to recognize him, we do not agree with the recognition," explain socialist sources, stating that the term "elected president" was removed from the text due to their pressure. They maintain that their position has not changed, aligning with the stance led by the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, or the position asserted by the government in the joint statement issued by the 27 EU member countries on January 10 after Maduro's inauguration.
Vox, on the other hand, argued throughout Thursday that the EPP did not recognize Edmundo González as president, a point that hardly fits with the fact that the European People's Party has been one of the main supporters of the elected president and María Corina. Also, the highest authority of the European Parliament, the also popular Roberta Metsola, has been one of the most prominent European figures advocating for Venezuela, along with the leader of the Spanish delegation, Dolors Montserrat, who also played a significant role.