Caracas/The European Parliament on Thursday urged the Council of the European Union (European governments) not to lift any of the sanctions it imposes on those responsible for human rights violations in Venezuela until the country adopts “significant measures towards a peaceful transition to democracy.”
In a resolution that was passed by 507 votes in favor, 31 against and 35 abstentions, the MEPs point out that these measures must include the unconditional release of all political prisoners, the withdrawal and annulment of all politically motivated charges against the democratic opposition and the establishment of a credible roadmap for free and fair elections.
The text, negotiated this week and signed by popular, ultra-conservative and liberal groups, finally gathered the votes of a majority of the groups in the chamber despite the fact that there were amendments on the table that suggested a gradual reduction of sanctions on Venezuela like the one favored by Spain and the explicit condemnation of US interference in this country.
The resolution passed in the European Parliament with 507 votes in favor, 31 against and 35 abstentions.
Although these amendments did not pass, social democrats and other progressive groups also voted in favor of the text as a whole, focused on the Venezuelan amnesty law.
The PSOE assured in a statement that they have voted in favor of the final text because it includes a “firm call for respect for international law” and “important improvements” with respect to the original proposal. In any case, they stressed that their position is reflected in their amendments on the gradual lifting of sanctions and the express condemnation of the United States, which did not obtain a majority.
The European Parliament regrets that this amnesty process “has not allowed the unconditional release of all political prisoners, since there are still at least 470 unjustly detained in inhumane conditions.”
It adds that “its premature repeal, its limited scope, the lack of independent oversight and its discriminatory application” do not lay the necessary foundations for political reconciliation.
The MEPs call for the “full and unconditional” release of all those arbitrarily detained for political reasons, who must also recover their civil and political rights, and warn that “the amnesty law should not be applied in any case to protect those responsible for human rights violations, who must be held fully accountable.”
For the European Parliament, the regime must “immediately end the repression and reform the main judicial, police and electoral institutions, also by closing all facilities used for arbitrary detention, ill-treatment and torture”, as well as ending political persecution and restrictions on political prisoners.
From the PP, for her part, MEP Dolors Montserrat criticized that, while the European Parliament urges to stop the lifting of sanctions, the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, has invited the president in charge of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, to the next Ibero-American Summit in Madrid. “Whoever whitewashes tyrants should not sit at Europe’s table,” he warned.
The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security, Kaja Kallas, proposed in February that the EU lift the sanctions against Rodríguez, as Spain had proposed, although no decision has yet been made on the matter.
