What changed

B90111/2024

P9_TA(2024)0080

European Parliament resolution on furtherFurther repression against the democratic forces in Venezuela: attacks on presidential candidate Maria Corina Machado

(2024/2549(RSP))

PE756.839

European Parliament resolution of 8 February 2024 on further repression against the democratic forces in Venezuela: attacks on presidential candidate María Corina Machado (2024/2549(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to its previous resolutions on Venezuela,

– having regard to Rulethe 132(2)Universal Declaration of itsHuman RulesRights ofand Procedure,to other UN human rights treaties and instruments,

A. whereas on 17 October 2023, the Venezuelan regime reached a deal (the Partial Agreement on the Promotion of Political Rights and Electoral Guarantees for All, known as the ‘Barbados Agreement’) with the political opposition to hold elections during the second half of 2024; whereas this agreement covered important topics such as allowing international observers to participate in the electoral process; whereas the agreement was signed to serve as a first step to ensure free and fair elections in Venezuela;

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

B. whereas in October 2023, opposition parties held primary elections and María Corina Machado was elected as the opposition presidential candidate, by a large majority; whereas days later, the attorney general’s office launched an investigation into the organising committee of the primaries for alleged fraud; whereas the pro-regime Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) suspended all effects regarding the result;

– having regard to the statement by the spokesperson of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of 29 January 2024,

C. whereas on 26 January 2024, the TSJ reviewed and maintained the 15-year disqualification imposed previously against María Corina Machado; whereas this ongoing arbitrary disqualification, together with the disqualifications imposed on other prominent Venezuelan opposition figures such as Leopoldo López and Henrique Capriles, among others, severely restrict the rights of Venezuelans to choose their representatives, strongly undermining the principles of democracy and the right to political participation, and making impossible the holding of free and fair elections;

– having regard to the statement of the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States of 28 January 2024 on recent events in Venezuela,

D. whereas in its resolution of 13 July 2023 on the political disqualifications in Venezuela, Parliament already strongly condemned the political disqualifications of candidates by the Venezuelan regime; whereas this resolution specifically condemned the arbitrary and unconstitutional 15-year disqualification of María Corina Machado and other prominent political figures and deplored the fact that the recommendations of the last EU election observation mission (EOM) had been completely ignored;

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

E. whereas the United States, the Organization of American States, bodies of the UN, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and many other countries and international institutions, have condemned the political repression practised by the Venezuelan regime through the political disqualification of opposition leaders, in some cases denouncing such actions as being characteristic of authoritarian regimes;

– having regard to the first report of the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, published on 16 September 2020,

F. whereas the United States has also stated its deep concern over the Venezuelan regime’s interference in the composition of the National Electoral Council (CNE); whereas the regime-controlled National Assembly elected all new members of the CNE in August 2023; whereas new CNE members include Elvis Amoroso, who, as comptroller general, disqualified opposition candidates, and Carlos Quintero, whom the United States sanctioned in 2017 for his role in weakening elections; whereas an independent, impartial and fully functioning CNE is indispensable for free and fair elections;

– having regard to the Venezuelan Constitution,

G. whereas the disqualifications of opposition candidates by the Venezuelan regime severely breach the political rights and electoral guarantees signed in the Barbados Agreement;

– having regard to the final report of the EU Election Observation Mission (EOM) to Venezuela of 22 February 2022 entitled ‘Regional and municipal elections 21 November 2021’ and the statement by the President of the Electoral Observation Delegation of the European Parliament, Jordi Cañas, of 23 November 2021 on the regional and local elections in Venezuela in 2021,

H. whereas similar electoral meddling in Venezuela was highlighted in the report by the UN EOM on the regional and municipal elections for executive and legislative positions in November 2021; whereas previous elections, including the 2018 presidential contest, have not received official recognition amid allegations of widespread intimidation and irregularities;

– having regard to Rule 132(2) and (4) of its Rules of Procedure,

I. whereas the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable coalition reported the presence of armed groups in 21 % of polling stations across the country during the 2018 presidential elections; whereas elections in the past have been overshadowed by violence against and intimidation of potential voters, such as the murder of a citizen in a polling station in the state of Zulia by gangs and other armed groups loyal to the Venezuelan regime; whereas armed groups have spread fear in both rural and urban areas, attacking voters and candidates, manipulating election results and restricting access to voting centres by imposing absolute territorial control;

A. whereas Venezuela’s 2024 elections could represent a turning point from a corrupt autocracy towards a return to democracy if all the points of the Barbados Agreement are respected; whereas civil and political rights continue to be violated in Venezuela, which has engendered years of instability and violence; whereas around eight million people have been forced to leave the country;

J. whereas the abovementioned armed groups include the National Liberation Army (ELN), the Patriotic Forces of National Liberation (FPLN), and groups that emerged from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), operating mostly in border states and brutally enforcing curfews and regulations governing everyday activities;

B. whereas there have been systematic restrictions on public information, freedom of opinion and expression and the right to peaceful assembly, particularly for dissidents of the regime, trade unionists, human rights defenders and the most vulnerable members of society;

K. whereas the Venezuelan regime of Nicolás Maduro has built a system of governance characterised by an alliance between the government and organised crime networks over the past years; whereas this is a symbiotic relationship, whereby non-state armed groups provide senior members of the regime with access to and total control over their areas of influence; whereas, in return, the regime tolerates, and in some cases actively protects, the activities of these groups; whereas the proper functioning of this system of governance maintains President Nicolás Maduro in power;

C. whereas on 17 October 2023 in Venezuela, the Maduro regime and the Unitary Platform opposition alliance signed two agreements, known as the Barbados Agreements, which covered matters including the promotion of political rights and electoral guarantees for all, and the release of political prisoners; whereas this agreement covered important topics such as allowing international observers to participate in the electoral process; whereas the agreement was signed to serve as a first step to ensure free and fair elections in Venezuela;

L. whereas the Venezuelan regime is supported by international actors and countries, such as Cuba and Nicaragua, most of them represented in the Foro de Sao Paulo and the Grupo de Puebla; whereas Venezuela, together with Cuba, is Russia’s most important trading, political and military ally in Latin America;

D. whereas on 22 October 2023, María Corina Machado was selected as the presidential candidate of the democratic opposition to the regime, winning with 92,35 % of the votes in the primary elections;

M. whereas the latest actions of the Venezuelan regime replicate the same patterns of abuse and waves of repression already used by President Nicolás Maduro and his allies; whereas this repression includes the unjust arrest of a dozen opposition members, including former National Assembly leader Juan Guaidó and three campaign staffers of presidential candidate María Corina Machado, all three of them held against their will in an unknown location;

E. whereas for several months, María Corina Machado, members of her campaign team – including Juan Freites, Luis Camacaro and Guillermo López, who were unlawfully detained and have since been reported missing – civil society organisations, lawyers, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other political players in the democratic opposition to the regime have been targeted by arbitrary and politically motivated attempts to disqualify them from holding public office; whereas among those targeted is Henrique Capriles, who has run for president twice in the past and whose disqualification was also confirmed in the same statement of 26 January 2024;

N. whereas the Venezuelan authorities have in recent years been harassing, persecuting and arbitrarily jailing politicians and civil society representatives such as union workers, journalists and human rights defenders, among many others;

F. whereas the process to reinstate María Corina Machado lacked basic elements, as she neither received a copy of the allegations against her nor was afforded the opportunity to respond to the allegations; whereas the regime’s Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) published a summary of its decision, which has no legal basis, on its webpage; whereas the Venezuelan Constitution stipulates that individuals cannot have their political rights restricted by administrative decisions, nor be barred from holding public office by such decisions; whereas the regime’s TJS was therefore unable to pass a constitutionally sound judgment in this matter;

O. whereas, according to the legal aid organisation Foro Penal, more than 15 800 people have been subjected to politically motivated arrests since 2014, and around 270 remain in detention;

G. whereas on 6 December 2023, Roberto Abdul, a member of the commission that planned the primary elections for the opposition to the regime, was arrested for alleged treason; whereas at the same time, arrest warrants were issued for Henry Alviarez, Claudia Macero and Pedro Urruchurtu, members of the Vente Venezuela party, for alleged crimes including treason, conspiracy and money laundering;

P. whereas the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and its international fact-finding mission (FFM) have been documenting cases for many years, including numerous killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, instances of torture and ill-treatment against opponents of the Maduro regime;

H. whereas these arbitrary decisions are inconsistent with the commitment by Nicolás Maduro’s representatives to hold a competitive Venezuelan presidential election in 2024 and go against the recommendations of the EU EOM; whereas the administrative authorities’ ongoing arbitrary disqualification of opposition electoral candidates severely restricts the right of Venezuelans to choose their representatives;

Q. whereas judges from the International Criminal Court (ICC) have found that Venezuelan courts are not continuing to investigate possible crimes against humanity; whereas the ICC has therefore resumed its own investigations; whereas the FFM has affirmed that it has reasonable grounds to believe that far from dismantling structures involved in abuses, Venezuelan authorities have promoted individuals responsible for them;

I. whereas in its resolution of 13 July 2023 on the political disqualifications in Venezuela, Parliament already strongly condemned the political disqualifications of candidates by the Venezuelan regime; whereas this resolution specifically condemned the arbitrary and unconstitutional 15-year disqualification of María Corina Machado and other prominent political figures and deplored the fact that the recommendations of the last EU EOM had been completely ignored;

R. whereas President Nicolás Maduro’s most recent campaign of repression has been implemented through the ‘Bolivarian Fury’ plan (Furia Bolivariana), which involves the deployment of military and police troops to ‘thwart any terrorist and coup attempts, no matter how they are presented’; whereas, as a consequence, the headquarters of numerous opposition political parties and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have become the targets of vandalism, often featuring graffiti reading ‘Bolivarian Fury’;

J. whereas the Maduro regime denied the Chief Observer of the EU EOM entry to Venezuela to present the final report for the regional and municipal elections that took place in 2021, because the EU EOM had been expelled from the country;

S. whereas amid these attacks, the regime also announced that the National Constituent Assembly would soon pass a law giving the executive branch broad powers to control, register, sanction and dissolve NGOs; whereas this law will serve to further restrict civil liberties; whereas the Venezuelan authorities have stigmatised, harassed and repressed the media, closing dissenting outlets; whereas the civil society organisation Espacio Público reported 261 violations of freedom of expression in 2023, with censorship and intimidation being the most common;

K. whereas on 22 January, the regime, through the attorney general, issued fourteen arrest warrants on trumped up charges against individuals including human rights defender Tamara Sujú, journalist Sebastiana Barráez, former mayor of Caracas Antonio Ledezma, political leader Leopoldo López, former interim President of Venezuela Juan Guaidó and former mayor David Smolansky, for treason, magnicide and for simply exercising their freedom to express their opposition to the regime;

1. Calls for the immediate and unconditional lifting of the 15-year disqualification of María Corina Machado and all the other political opposition figures, allowing them to stand in the elections;

L. whereas the Venezuelan Parliament, which is controlled by the Maduro regime, has been preparing a new law on the financing and performance of NGOs in order to limit civil society’s ability to get organised and defend its rights;

2. Calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all the arbitrarily arrested political and social leaders, including the former National Assembly leader, Juan Guaidó, and three campaign staffers of presidential candidate María Corina Machado (Juan Freites, Luis Camacaro and Guillermo Lopez);

M. whereas on 31 January, Maduro backed a call from the regime-controlled National Assembly to develop a proposal, starting from 5 February and in dialogue with various sectors, for an electoral schedule for the presidential elections, expected in the second half of 2024, but still without a definite date;

3. Calls for the respect and full implementation of the Barbados Agreement as a first step towards ensuring that the presidential elections scheduled for the second half of 2024 are free and transparent;

N. whereas the electoral roadmap contained in the Barbados Agreement remains an opportunity to resolve Venezuela’s long-standing political, economic and humanitarian crises and to conduct competitive, free and inclusive elections in Venezuela; whereas the persecution of the candidates of the opposition to the regime severely breaches the political rights and electoral guarantees signed in the Barbados Agreement;

4. Strongly condemns the interference in the designation of the members of the CNE and calls for an independent nomination procedure for new CNE appointments;

O. whereas the regime has also been making changes to the National Electoral Council (CNE) to hamper the electoral process and quash any prospect of a return to democracy; whereas in June 2023, three principal rectors of the National Electoral Council stepped down, forcing the resignation of two remaining rectors; whereas the regime’s National Assembly appointed a special commission composed of representatives of the regime, including the wife of Nicolás Maduro, to elect new rectors from among individuals of the regime;

5. Expresses its deepest concern about the potential negative effects of the Bolivarian Fury plan on civil liberties and the possibility of having free and fair elections;

1. Strongly condemns the attempts to disqualify the presidential candidate of the democratic opposition to the regime, María Corina Machado, and others, such as Henrique Capriles, from holding public office; recalls that the process to reinstate her lacked basic elements, as she neither received a copy of the allegations against her nor was afforded the opportunity to respond to the allegations;

6. Stresses the need to ensure free and fair elections through the full implementation of the 23 recommendations made by the last EU EOM, particularly those regarding the abolition of the comptroller general’s prerogative to strip citizens of their political rights through an administrative procedure, the integrity and secrecy of the electronic voting system, the use of state resources in electoral campaigns, the conditions to ensure balanced media coverage of electoral campaigns, especially in state media, and the promotion of freedom of expression through the repeal of the Law against Hatred; demands that the Venezuelan authorities approve an EU EOM for the coming presidential elections;

2. Strongly condemns the attacks against, alleged forced disappearances and arrests of and arrest warrants issued for members of Maria Corina Machado’s team and other representatives of the opposition and civil society, as well as human rights defenders and journalists; strongly condemns the Maduro regime’s interference in the electoral process;

7. Condemns in the strongest terms the numerous killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, instances of torture and any other criminal actions against opponents of the Maduro regime, including politicians, journalists and human right defenders, among many others;

3. Calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all the arbitrarily arrested political and social leaders, including three campaign staffers of the presidential candidate of the opposition to the regime María Corina Machado, namely Juan Freites, Luis Camacaro and Guillermo Lopez;

8. Deplores the continuous repression by the Venezuelan regime against political opposition figures and civil society; reiterates its firm and unconditional support for the Venezuelan people;

4. Reiterates that actions by Nicolás Maduro and his representatives, including the persecution of members of the democratic opposition to the regime and attempts to impede candidates from competing in this year’s presidential election, are a clear breach of the agreements signed in Barbados by representatives of Nicolás Maduro and the Unitary Platform with a view to holding a competitive Venezuelan presidential election in 2024;

9. Deplores Venezuela’s alignment with Russia, Cuba, Nicaragua and other dictatorial regimes;

5. Underlines that the statement by the regime’s TSJ is unconstitutional and illegal, since it stems from arbitrary and politically motivated allegations, and that the procedure that was followed did not comply with the law; considers, therefore, that the decision by the TSJ, appointed by the regime, has no legal grounds and that María Corina Machado remains eligible to run for the elections;

10. Calls on the Member States, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR), the United States and international human rights organisations to closely monitor the repressive actions of the Venezuelan regime against the political opposition and civil society in Venezuela;

6. Believes that these actions constitute a clear attempt at dictatorial political persecution, which violates the civil and political rights of the Venezuelan people, and that these predictable actions, particularly given the regime’s track record, once more shatter any prospect of free and fair elections;

11. Calls on the Member States and the VP/HR to impose the necessary sanctions against those individuals from the Venezuelan regime and its proxies responsible for violations of human rights against the Venezuelan people;

7. Recognises the efforts of the opposition to the regime to organise primary elections as a democratic solution for Venezuelans domestically and abroad; urges the Venezuelan authorities to provide the conditions to ensure fair, free, inclusive and transparent elections;

12. 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;

8. Urges the Venezuelan regime to immediately stop the persecution of the primary winner and thus fully legitimate candidate of the opposition to the regime, María Corina Machado, and other opposition politicians, and start implementing the Barbados Agreement, including by upholding the electoral roadmap’s principles and paragraph one of the agreement, under which the parties are bound to ‘recognise and respect the right of each political actor to choose their candidate for the presidential elections freely’, which would entail ensuring that the leader of the opposition to the regime, María Corina Machado, can participate freely in a competitive and truly democratic presidential election in 2024;

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 governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Organization of American States, the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Venezuelan authorities.

9. Recalls the appalling social, economic and humanitarian conditions that have prevailed in Venezuela for years, which Venezuelans have been enduring for too long; condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the killing, constant repression, systematic torture and violations of human, civil and political rights of the Venezuelan people and human rights defenders; urges the Venezuelan regime to immediately stop persecuting, repressing and violating the civil and political rights of its political opponents and the Venezuelan people, as well as to revoke the arrest warrants for political opponents and to free political prisoners;

10. Condemns the abuse of the legal framework to restrict the defence of human rights and freedom of association, and is particularly concerned about the draft law on the control, regularisation, operations and financing of non-governmental and related organisations;

11. Notes the importance of allowing all Venezuelans, both in Venezuela and abroad, to participate in the elections by updating the permanent electoral registry and the electoral registry abroad, as provided for in paragraph 3(2)(e) of the Barbados Agreement;

12. Strongly condemns the interference in the designation of the members of the CNE and calls for an independent nomination procedure for new CNE appointments;

13. Fully supports the International Criminal Court and UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission investigations into the Venezuelan regime’s extensive crimes and acts of repression and calls for the EU to support the investigations, currently being considered under the Rome Statute, into the alleged crimes against humanity, in order to hold those responsible to account;

14. Remains strongly committed to supporting dialogue between the parties and to the Venezuelan people’s aspirations for a democratic future; calls for the EU to work with the international community and all peaceful democratic stakeholders across the political spectrum in Venezuela and to leverage all mechanisms at its disposal to encourage a return to the principles in the Barbados Agreement;

15. Urges the Member States to maintain the sanctions imposed on the Maduro regime; insists that sanctions should be stepped up until there is a clear and permanent commitment, in line with the Barbados Agreement, to uphold basic democratic standards, the rule of law and human rights; calls for further targeted sanctions through the EU global human rights sanctions regime (EU Magnitsky Act) against the judges of the Supreme Court of Venezuela who were involved in attempts to ban María Corina Machado from holding public office and against the members of the Venezuelan security forces involved in the systematic abuses perpetrated against government opponents;

16. Calls on the European External Action Service, the EU Delegation in Venezuela, the Member States and the international community to continue monitoring the situation in the country and to play a more assertive and visible role;

17. Insists that the EU must not consider sending any electoral observation mission to Venezuela until there are clear and credible guarantees that the Barbados Agreement and the electoral roadmap are being respected in their entirety, until opposition politicians who have been disqualified from holding public office are reinstated, until María Corina Machado is allowed to participate in the elections, and until the EU EOM’s 2021 recommendations are properly implemented;

18. Stresses that the elections and the election results will not be recognised if these conditions are not met;

19. 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 EU-Community of Latin American and Caribbean States summit participants, the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, the Organization of American States, the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Venezuelan regime authorities.