MADRID: The European Union’s high diplomat Josep Borrell referred to as Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s authorities “dictatorial” throughout an interview broadcast Sunday (Sep 15) in Spain, sparking renewed fury in Caracas.
Venezuela on Thursday recalled its ambassador to Madrid for consultations and summoned Spain’s envoy to Caracas after Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles referred to as Maduro’s administration a “dictatorship” and saluted “the Venezuelans who needed to go away their nation” due to the federal government.
Requested in regards to the row throughout an interview with non-public Spanish tv channel Telecinco, Borrell mentioned greater than 2,000 folks had been “arbitrarily detained” because the Latin American nation’s disputed July 28 presidential election, which the opposition accuses Maduro of stealing.
Political events in Venezuela are “subjected to a thousand limitations on their actions” and the opposition’s presidential candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, “has had to flee” to Spain, he added.
“What do you name all this? In fact, it is a dictatorial, authoritarian, dictatorial regime. However simply saying so would not resolve something. What we have to do is to attempt to resolve it,” mentioned Borrell, a former Spanish overseas minister.
“Typically resolving issues requires a sure verbal restraint, however allow us to not idiot ourselves in regards to the nature of issues. Venezuela has referred to as elections, however it was not a democracy earlier than and it’s a lot much less so after.”