The head of diplomacy of the European Union (EU), Josep Borrell, described the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as “dictatorial” during an interview broadcast in Spain on Sunday. “In Venezuela, more than 2,000 people were arbitrarily detained after the elections. The opposition leader had to flee. Political parties are subject to a thousand restrictions on their activities.”Mr Borrell argued.
“What is all this called? Of course, it is a dictatorial regime.”The EU’s top diplomat told Spanish private television channel Telecinco, adding that “Venezuela called for elections, but it was not a democracy before and even less so after”.
Twenty-seven dead in protests
Venezuela recalled its ambassador in Madrid for consultations and summoned Spain’s envoy to Caracas for talks on Thursday after Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles called the Maduro administration a “dictatorship” and greeted “Venezuelans who had to leave their country” because of his diet. Spain, like all EU member states, is demanding the full publication of the minutes issued by the polling stations after the presidential elections on 28 July, something that the Venezuelan authorities have not done, claiming that they had been victims of computer hacking.
The National Electoral Council (CNE) declared Maduro the winner of the vote, with 52% of the votes. But the opposition claims, based on the records provided by its scrutineers, that Edmundo González Urrutia, an opponent of the outgoing leader, obtained more than 60% of the votes. Spontaneous protest movements following the announcement of the election result left 27 dead and 192 injured in the country, while some 2,400 people were arrested, according to official sources.
