Venezuelan opponent Juan Guaido in Madrid calls on supporters "to stay standing"

Venezuelan opponent Juan Guaido asked thousands of supporters on Saturday 25 January to "stand up to the dictatorship" of Nicolas Maduro during a visit to Madrid where he was not received by the head of government, Pedro Sanchez. "I ask you never to kneel in front of anyone, that we remain standing as long as necessary" in the face of the "dictatorship" in Venezuela, he said on the famous square of Puerta del Sol. "Long live free Venezuela," he shouted as his supporters waved flags of the South American country.

Recognized as interim president of Venezuela by fifty countries, including France and Spain, Juan Guaido was re-elected president of the unicameral parliament on January 5, in a vote not recognized by the government in power. But the head of the Spanish socialist government Pedro Sanchez aroused a lively controversy by not receiving him on Saturday January 25, unlike British Prime Minister Boris Johnson or French President Emmanuel Macron who received him Friday at the Élysée Palace.

Constructive discussion with @jguaido re-elected president of @ AsambleaVE. pic.twitter.com/p0O0HOWCZt

In Spain, the Venezuelan opponent was only received by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha Gonzalez, who reaffirmed "the full support of the Spanish government". This decision earned the minister harsh criticism from the Spanish right-wing opposition at the head of the town hall and the Madrid region who received Juan Guaido on Saturday with the honors of a head of state.

Madrid promotes dialogue

"It is a complex crisis, which requires dialogue [...]. The position of the Spanish government has always been to embody, through the European institutions, a response through dialogue" between the opposition and the Nicolas regime Maduro, defended Arnacha Sanchez during a visit to areas affected by the Gloria storm which left twelve dead.

"We are a government that has always supported the Venezuelan opposition and what we want is for elections to be held quickly in Venezuela," added the socialist, recalling that the opponent Leopoldo Lopez was a refugee in the residence of the Spanish ambassador in Caracas.

Close to Arancha Sanchez, the Minister of Transport, Jose Luis Abalos, defended Saturday in the daily La Razon the search for a "balanced democratic solution" in Venezuela which requires Spain to avoid any "belligerent position" in with regard to the regime of Nicolas Maduro.

>> Read: Venezuela: a year later, Juan Guaido "at the head of a tired opposition"

Juan Guaido tried to calm the game by assuring the press that he hoped to be able to receive the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs in Caracas "in the coming months […] once we have returned to democracy in Venezuela". The opponent to Nicolas Maduro claims the organization of a new presidential election in his country, believing that that of 2018 which allowed President Maduro to stay in power has been marred by "fraud".

Following his meeting with Juan Guaido on Friday, President Macron renewed on Twitter France's support for "the rapid organization of a free and transparent presidential election" in Venezuela. A statement that earned him a dry response from Jorge Arreaza, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nicolas Maduro, who challenged the French president on the "repression" of the demonstrations that have taken place in recent months in France. "A deaf and arrogant government [...] cannot give lessons in democracy to anyone, and certainly not in Venezuela," Jorge Arreaza wrote in French.

With AFP

The France 24 week summary invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

Download the app