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Spain, France, Sweden recognize Venezuelan Juan Guaido as nation’s interim president
The UK, France, and Spain among a number of countries, have announced their recognition of Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president after Caracas did not cave into an ultimatum calling for elections with eight days.
“Nicolas Maduro has not called Presidential elections within 8 day limit we have set. So UK alongside European allies now recognises Juan Guaido as interim constitutional president until credible elections can be held,” UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt wrote in a tweet on Monday.
Germany, France, and Spain issued nearly identical warnings in late January, stating that they would recognize Guaido as the legitimate leader of Venezuela unless new elections were held. The date for this to happen expired overnight, from February 3 to February 4.
In a tweet announcing Austria’s support for Guaido, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz claimed that President Nicolas Maduro has “so far refused to accept a free and fair presidential election” – leading Vienna to accept Guaido as Venezuela’s “lawful” leader. Sweden has done the same, with Europe’s ‘power house’ Germany, as well as Denmark, the Netherlands and Latvia following suit.