World

Spain, France, Germany give ultimatum to Venezuela’s Maduro

Spain, France, Germany give ultimatum to Venezuela's Maduro

TIL Desk/World/Madrid/ Spain, France and Germany on Saturday gave an ultimatum to embattled Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, saying that they would recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as President unless he calls a new election within eight days. “Spain gives Nicolas Maduro eight days to call an election and if it doesn’t occur, we will recognize Juan Guaido as President,” said Sanchez during a press conference here.

Sanchez thus became the first of the European Union’s 28 heads of government to position himself before the bloc’s adoption of a common stance on the ongoing legitimacy crisis in Venezuela. Guaido, the 35-year-old head of the National Assembly, proclaimed himself Venezuela’s acting President on Wednesday, a move that was recognized by several countries, including the US.

But Maduro accused US President Donald Trump of mounting a coup and cut off diplomatic ties with Washington in response. He also said that Sanchez was “repeating the script” of Spain’s former right-wing Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar (1996-2004), who immediately supported the failed coup against then-President Hugo Chavez in 2002. The Spanish Prime Minister’s call was soon followed by French President Emmanuel Macron, who reiterated the eight-day ultimatum in a post on Twitter.

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