What changed

B100083/2025

B100080/2025

European Parliament resolution on the situation in Venezuela following the usurpation of the presidency on 10 January 2025

– having regard to its previous resolutions on Venezuela,

– having regard to the statement by the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on behalf of the European Union of 10 January 2025 on the events of 10 January 2025,

– having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to other UN human rights treaties and instruments,

– having regard to the statement by the G7 foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America and the High Representative of the European Union of 10 January 2025 on the lack of democratic legitimacy of the presidential inauguration in Venezuela,

– having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,

– having regard to the statement of the United States Department of State of 10 January 2025 entitled ‘Condemning Nicolás Maduro’s illegitimate attempt to seize power in Venezuela and announcing new actions against Maduro and his representatives and to support the Venezuelan people’,

– having regard to the Partial Agreement on the Promotion of Political Rights and Electoral Guarantees for All, signed by Nicolás Maduro’s regime and the Venezuelan opposition alliance, the Unitary Platform, on 17 October 2023 (the Barbados Agreement),

– having regard to the reports and statementsfindings of the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of VenezuelaVenezuela, onestablished by the situationUN inHuman theRights countryCouncil followingon the27 presidentialSeptember vote,2019,

– having regard to the report by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of 27 December 2024 entitled ‘Graves violaciones a los Derechos humanos en el contexto electoral’ (Venezuela: serious human rights violations following the elections),

– having regard to the interim report of the UN Panel of Experts of 9 August 2024 on the Venezuelan presidential elections of 28 July 2024,

– having regard to the CarterVienna CenterConvention electionon observerDiplomatic team’sRelations statementof 1961, the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963 and the VenezuelaConvention election,on Diplomatic Asylum of 1954,

– having regard to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC),

– having regard to the statement by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on behalf of the EU of 10 January 2025 and to the statement by the Spokesperson for the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of 15 January 2025 on Venezuela,

– having regard to the Venezuelan Constitution,

– having regard to Rule 136(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas the presidential election held on 28 July 2024 in Venezuela did not meet the minimum international standards for a credible process and did not respect the principles of political pluralism, democracy, transparency or the rule of law;

A. whereas on 10 January 2025, Nicolás Maduro was sworn in as president of Venezuela, without any democratic legitimacy or verifiable evidence of electoral integrity;

B. whereas in recent months, the Venezuelan authorities have refused to publish the official tallies from the polling stations, thus preventing the announced results from being verified or recognised as representative of the will of the people;

B. whereas on 29 July 2024, Venezuela’s National Electoral Council proclaimed Nicolás Maduro the presidential election winner with 51.2 % of the vote, followed by 44.2 % for the opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, without delivering the electoral records (actas) to support these figures;

C. whereas on 10 January 2025, despite opposition and the fact that the international community had not recognised his victory in the presidential election of 28 July, Nicolás Maduro was sworn in for a third consecutive term as president, to govern Venezuela for the next six years;

C. whereas the opposition was able to collect digitalised electoral records corresponding to more than 80 % of the total, which give a result of 67 % in favour of Edmundo González Urrutia, followed by 30 % for Nicolás Maduro; whereas the UN Panel of Experts confirmed that the reviewed electoral records published by the opposition exhibit all the security features of the original result protocols, thereby confirming their reliability;

D. whereas Maduro assumed a new term in office without clear evidence to support his election, in the absence of any transparency and respect for the civil and political rights of the Venezuelan people; whereas President-elect Edmundo González Urrutia was forced into exile after an arrest warrant was issued against him and serious threats were made to his life and that of his relatives, preventing him from taking office as the legitimate and democratically elected President of Venezuela;

D. whereas the electoral process did not meet international standards of electoral integrity at any of its stages, and violated numerous provisions of Venezuelan national laws; whereas the election took place in an environment of restricted freedoms for political actors, civil society organisations and the media;

E. whereas the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission, in its most recent report to the UN Human Rights Council, determined that the country’s repressive apparatus remains fully operational, documenting the violent repression of protests following the presidential election of 28 July, which it described as one of the most acute human rights crises in the country’s recent history;

E. whereas before, during and since the elections, the Maduro regime has been relentlessly persecuting, abducting, arresting and imprisoning the activists of the opposition, criminalising the work of lawyers, human rights defenders and civil society actors; whereas more than 2 500 citizens, including minors, have been arrested;

F. whereas since the presidential election, more than 2 400 people, including EU citizens and dual nationals such as Williams Dávila and Américo de Grazia, two well-known opposition figures, as well as politicians, mayors, journalists and human rights activists, have been arrested, while 200 were injured and 28 were killed; whereas according to the latest data from the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Foro Penal, 1 849 people remain in detention for political reasons, facing multiple irregularities and restrictions affecting their rights to food, health and access to essential legal guarantees in ongoing legal processes;

F. whereas criminal investigations have been launched in Venezuela against Edmundo González Urrutia and María Corina Machado for announcing an election winner other than Nicolás Maduro and for allegedly instigating disobedience and insurrection; whereas an arrest warrant was issued for Edmundo González Urrutia and he was obliged to flee Venezuela;

G. whereas as the inauguration ceremony was approaching, the imprisonment of dozens of journalists and opposition party leaders and activists resumed, including Edmundo González Urrutia’s son-in-law Rafael Tudares, former presidential candidate Enrique Márquez and EU citizens such as Alberto Trentini, an Italian NGO worker arrested in Venezuela in November 2024 without formal charges against him; whereas numerous people are still missing or have disappeared;

G. whereas the disputed election results and subsequent inauguration ceremony led thousands of people to protest across Venezuela and there have been reports of disproportionate use of force by law enforcement officials; whereas María Corina Machado was briefly detained during the protests on the eve of the inauguration ceremony and later released;

H. whereas the regime has deployed 20 000 special operations forces, including a new rapid response unit established in recent months; whereas checkpoints have been set up and drones are being used to monitor the streets, especially in the capital;

H. whereas several foreign nationals, including EU citizens, remain under arrest on dubious ‘destabilisation’ grounds;

I. whereas on 9 January 2025, just before Maduro’s disputed inauguration, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado appeared publicly for the first time after 133 days in hiding, at a protest in Caracas, and, as she was leaving the gathering, was arrested by armed officers who shot at her delegation; whereas she was later released;

I. whereas since 20 March 2024 six close collaborators of the Vente Venezuela political party have sought refuge in the Argentinian Embassy in Caracas, where they continue to face increasing pressure and harassment from the Venezuelan security forces;

J. whereas the 2024 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought was awarded to María Corina Machado, who had been forced to go into hiding for fear of reprisals from the Maduro regime, and to President-elect Edmundo González Urrutia; whereas this is also a tribute to every Venezuelan who resists injustice and oppression, in the struggle for freedom and democracy;

J. whereas human rights violations continue, including arbitrary detentions, excessive use of force, unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, harassment, persecution and prosecution of political opponents and citizens exercising their right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, as well as violations of due process;

K. whereas according to the UN Refugee Agency, more than 7.7 million Venezuelans have left the country since 2014, the largest exodus in Latin America’s recent history and one of the largest displacement crises in the world;

K. whereas in addition to the political and institutional crisis, Venezuela is experiencing a deep economic, social and demographic crisis that is severely affecting the lives of its citizens;

L. whereas on 13 January 2025, in a unilateral action, Venezuela announced that it would limit the number of accredited diplomats from France, Italy and the Netherlands;

L. whereas on 10 January 2025 the Council announced its adoption of a new package of targeted sanctions against 15 individuals responsible for undermining democracy, the rule of law or human rights in Venezuela;

M. whereas the EU, Canada, the UK and the US have imposed new sanctions on Maduro-aligned high-level officials responsible for undermining democracy, the rule of law or human rights in Venezuela; whereas these measures aim to intensify international efforts to maintain pressure on Maduro and his representatives, and are not affecting the Venezuelan people or the economy;

M. whereas in 2024 alone, the EU committed almost EUR 75 million aimed at alleviating the suffering of the most vulnerable in Venezuela;

1. Deplores the fact that Nicolás Maduro assumed a new term in office without clear evidence to support his election, in the absence of any transparency and respect for the civil and political rights of the Venezuelan people;

N. whereas on 17 December 2024, Parliament awarded the 2024 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to María Corina Machado, as the leader of the democratic forces in Venezuela, and to President-elect Edmundo González Urrutia;

2. Calls for the EU and its1. MemberRecognises States,Edmundo asGonzález wellUrrutia as the international community,legitimate toPresident continueof toVenezuela, workas forevidenced aby peacefulthe andpublicly democraticavailable transitioncopies inof Venezuelaelectoral sorecords, thatreflecting the preferenceundeniable expresseddemocratic byaspirations of the Venezuelan people for President-elect Edmundo González Urrutia, and their legitimatefight aspirationsfor ofdemocracy, freedom and democracy, can finally become reality;justice;

3. Welcomes the fact that several democratic states have already recognised Edmundo González Urrutia as the newly elected president; urges the Venezuelan authorities to revoke the unjustified arrest warrant issued for President-elect González Urrutia;

2. Rejects Nicolás Maduro as President of Venezuela, owing to the lack of democratic legitimacy and electoral integrity;

4. Commends the democratic opposition’s resilience and the Venezuelan people’s commitment to democracy in the face of repression and adversity; reiterates its support for the will of the Venezuelan people, as expressed at the ballot box, as well as the peaceful restoration of democracy in Venezuela and the release of all unjustly detained political prisoners;

3. Calls for the international community to accept the democratic will of the Venezuelan people and recognise Edmundo González Urrutia as the legitimate and democratically elected President of Venezuela;

5. Urges the regime to restore constitutional order, the separation of powers and the independence of the branches of government; strongly condemns the violence, arbitrary arrests and detentions, killings and casualties, which occurred after the election and still continue, and expresses its sincere condolences to the relatives of the victims; urges the Venezuelan authorities to halt all human rights abuses and violations and to hold those responsible to account, and to ensure that all fundamental freedoms and human rights are fully respected;

4. Reiterates that respecting the will of the Venezuelan people expressed in the elections remains the only way for Venezuela to restore democracy, allow for a peaceful and genuine transition of power and to solve the current humanitarian and socio-economic crises; calls on the international community and regional partners to pursue all political and diplomatic efforts to facilitate dialogue and negotiation between all Venezuelan political forces;

6. Underlines once more the right of all Venezuelans to peacefully demonstrate and freely express their political opinions without fear of reprisal; reiterates its call for the immediate and unconditional release of all the arbitrarily arrested political and social leaders, political prisoners and peaceful protesters;

5. Reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the Venezuelan people and to defending democracy, the rule of law and human rights; stands in solidarity with our sister party Vente Venezuela and all Venezuelan democratic forces;

7. Expresses its concern about the arrest, on 9 January 2025, of Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who was violently intercepted and briefly arrested after leading a peaceful demonstration in Caracas, on her first public appearance after months of forced hiding;

6. Calls on the Venezuelan authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all those who have been arbitrarily detained, including foreign and EU nationals, to cease repression and attacks on civil society and the opposition, and to end the systematic pattern of human rights violations;

8. Highlights the fact that Venezuelans are constantly confronted with a humanitarian crisis and state repression and continue to flee the country in search of better living conditions and safety; expresses its concerns about repercussions on stability and prosperity in the region, including in neighbouring countries;

7. Calls on the International Criminal Court to include ongoing human rights violations and arbitrary detentions in its investigations into allegations of crimes against humanity committed by the Maduro regime, and to hold those responsible to account;

9. Deplores the latest unilateral decision by the Venezuelan authorities to substantially reduce the accredited diplomatic staff of France, Italy and the Netherlands; urges the Venezuelan authorities to comply with its obligations under international law, including the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations;

8. Welcomes the return to Caracas of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) as a step in the right direction; urges Venezuela to engage constructively and effectively with a fully fledged OHCHR, as well as with the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the International Criminal Court and relevant regional mechanisms;

10. Takes note of the Venezuelan regime’s failure to respect and fully implement the Barbados Agreement in relation to the presidential election, making the holding of free and fair elections impossible;

9. Deplores the decision of January 2025 by the Venezuelan authorities to substantially reduce the accredited diplomatic staff of several EU Member States in Caracas, and urges the immediate reversal of this unilateral and unacceptable action;

11. Calls for the immediate and unconditional lifting of the 15-year disqualification from holding office that was imposed on María Corina Machado, laureate of the 2024 Sakharov Prize, who continues to be forced into hiding for fear of reprisals from the Maduro regime, and the lifting of bans on other political opposition figures, to allow them to stand for election;

10. Calls on the Venezuelan authorities to comply with its obligations under international law, including the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations;

12. Deplores Venezuela’s alignment with Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Nicaragua and other dictatorial regimes;

11. Welcomes the new package of targeted sanctions by the EU and calls on the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the Council to consider further extending their scope, to include high-level regime officials and members of the security forces responsible for serious human rights violations;

13. Welcomes the decision by the EU, Canada, the UK and the US to impose new sanctions on Maduro-aligned high-level officials who are responsible for undermining democracy, the rule of law or human rights in Venezuela;

12. Welcomes the commitment by the EU to continue to address the urgent needs of the people of Venezuela, who are suffering the consequences of the long humanitarian crisis;

14. Fully supports the ICC investigations into the Venezuelan regime’s extensive crimes and acts of repression and calls for the EU to support the investigations into the alleged crimes against humanity in the country in order to hold those responsible to account;

13. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Member States, the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, the Organization of American States, the UN Secretary-General and the Venezuelan regime.

15. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Secretary-General of the Organization of American States, the UN Secretary-General and the Venezuelan authorities.