On the situation in Venezuela

–having regard to Rule 136(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.whereas the presidential election held on 28 July 2024 in Venezuela did not meet the minimum international standards for a credible process and did not respect the principles of political pluralism, democracy, transparency or the rule of law;

B.whereas just a few hours after the vote, Venezuela’s electoral authority, the National Electoral Council (CNE), proclaimed Nicolás Maduro president, securing him a third term, without publishing detailed voting tallies;

C.whereas the regime-controlled National Assembly elected all new members of the CNE in August 2023;

D.whereas on election night, the opposition uploaded to the internet copies of tallies collected by its observers at polling stations, and reviewed by several independent organisations, declaring that the tallies prove that its candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, won by a wide margin, with around 67 % of votes;

E.whereas Edmundo González Urrutia ran in María Corina Machado’s place after, on 26 January 2024, the pro-regime Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) reviewed and maintained the 15-year disqualification previously imposed on her; whereas this ongoing arbitrary disqualification, together with the disqualifications imposed on other prominent Venezuelan opposition figures, severely restricts the rights of Venezuelans to choose their representatives, strongly undermining the principles of democracy and the right to political participation, and making impossible the holding of free and fair elections;

F.whereas the EU and other democratic countries and regional and international organisations have not recognised the elections, their outcome or the authorities put in place by the illegitimate process; whereas the United States and several Latin American countries have recognised González as the winner of the election;

G.whereas thousands of people, including minors, took to the streets across Venezuela hours after electoral authorities loyal to the ruling party declared Nicolás Maduro the winner of the election, which the opposition said was stolen; whereas Maduro and allies of his United Socialist Party responded with force, using arbitrary arrests, prosecutions and repression;

H.whereas according to the UN Human Rights Council-appointed Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela, the election protests were met with fierce repression by the state, with more than 2 400 arrests and 24 deaths, the vast majority caused by gunfire;

I.whereas Nicolás Maduro did not cede power, but instead falsely claimed victory and asked the TSJ to approve the results, which it validated at the end of August;

J.whereas Edmundo González Urrutia was accused of various crimes, including usurpation of official functions, falsification of public documents, incitement to disobedience, conspiracy, and association with organised crime and financiers of terrorism; whereas this arrest warrant forced him to seek political asylum abroad; whereas he was granted asylum in Spain, leaving Venezuela on 7 September 2024;

K.whereas the latest actions of the Venezuelan regime replicate the same patterns of abuse and waves of repression already used by Nicolás Maduro and his allies in the past; whereas the Venezuelan authorities have in recent years been harassing, persecuting and arbitrarily jailing politicians and civil society representatives such as union workers, journalists and human rights defenders, among many others;

L.whereas on 17 October 2023, the Venezuelan regime reached a deal with the political opposition (the Partial Agreement on the Promotion of Political Rights and Electoral Guarantees for All, known as the ‘Barbados Agreement’) to hold elections during the second half of 2024; whereas this agreement covered important topics such as allowing international observers, including an official EU mission, to participate in the electoral process; whereas the agreement was signed to serve as a first step to ensure free and fair elections in Venezuela;

M.whereas Venezuela, together with Cuba, is Russia’s most important trading, political and military ally in Latin America; whereas Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Nicaragua were among the few countries that promptly congratulated Maduro on his victory;

1.Recognises Edmundo González Urrutia as the legitimate elected President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in accordance with the Venezuelan Constitution;

2.Calls on the VP/HR and the EU Member States to take a strong and unified position and to recognise Edmundo González Urrutia as the only legitimate elected president of the country; welcomes the fact that several democratic states have already recognised the newly elected president;

3.Strongly condemns the recent violence, arbitrary arrests and detentions, killings and casualties, and expresses its sincere condolences to the relatives of the victims; urges the Venezuelan authorities to halt all human rights abuses and violations and to hold those responsible to account, and to ensure that all fundamental freedoms and human rights are fully respected;

4.Urges the CNE to publish the official voting records (actas) from all the polling stations and allow for the impartial verification of results by independent observers; strongly condemns the interference in the designation of the members of the CNE and calls for an independent nomination procedure for new CNE appointments;

5.Takes note of the Venezuelan regime’s failure to respect and fully implement the Barbados Agreement in relation to the presidential election, making the holding of free and fair elections impossible; condemns the decision by Nicolás Maduro and his representatives to withdraw the invitation to the EU election observers for the presidential election;

6.Underlines once more the right of all Venezuelans to peacefully demonstrate and freely express their political opinions without fear of reprisal; reiterates its call for the immediate and unconditional release of all the arbitrarily arrested political and social leaders, political prisoners and peaceful protesters;

7.Calls for the immediate and unconditional lifting of the 15-year disqualification of María Corina Machado and all the other political opposition figures, allowing them to stand in elections;

8.Deplores the continuous repression by the Venezuelan regime against political opposition figures and civil society; reiterates its firm and unconditional support for the Venezuelan people;

9.Deplores Venezuela’s alignment with Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Nicaragua and other dictatorial regimes;

10.Calls on the Member States and the VP/HR to impose the necessary sanctions against those individuals from the Venezuelan regime and its proxies that are responsible for human rights violations against the Venezuelan people;

11.Fully supports the ICC investigations into the Venezuelan regime’s extensive crimes and acts of repression and calls for the EU to support the investigations into the alleged crimes against humanity in the country in order to hold those responsible to account;

12.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Secretary-General of the Organization of American States, the UN Secretary-General and the Venezuelan authorities.