Opposition leader Juan Guaido continued his tour of Europe today, meeting with representatives from the European Union in Brussels, Belgium.
In his meeting with the vice-president of the European Commission, Margaritis Schinas, Guaido was joined by opposition Minister for Foreign Affairs Julio Borges. Borges tweeted out a message of the meeting, along with a picture:
We are in Brussels now. Today, together with [Guaido] we have a round of meetings to secure Europe’s pressure [against the Maduro regime].
We are meeting now with the [vice-president] of the European Commission, Margaritis Schinas. Later we will meet with [Josep Borell] and we will end with a meeting of the GDL ambassadors.
Guaido did go on to meet with Josep Borrell, a Spanish politician who is the High Representative of the European Union. During the meeting, Guaido and Borrell spoke about setting a “common focus” for the EU in relation to the Maduro regime.
A press release by the EU stated that the two also discussed the regime’s “continued” harassment of the National Assembly and its deputies.
During the meeting, Borrell stated the EU’s continued support for the opposition-controlled National Assembly as the “only democratically-elected body” left in the country, and reiterated his support for Guaido as the country’s “legitimate president”.
Guaido Warns Return to Caracas is “A Risk”
Speaking during a press conference on his eventual return to Venezuela, Guaido said that the process of entering the country poses “a risk” to him given the possibility that he might be detained in the process.
After completing another multi-country tour in March of last year, Guaido returned to Venezuela to a hero’s welcome, and was able to cross the border without incident.
A picture of a smiling Guaido crossing through passport control at the Maiquetia airport on that occasion went viral.
Capriles Calls on Opposition to Realize Failure of “2019 Plan”
Henrique Capriles, the one-time de facto leader of the country’s opposition forces, called on Venezuelans today to realize that the opposition’s strategy for 2019 failed, and that different paths must be taken if it hopes to see 2020 become the last year for Maduro’s reign.
Capriles’ arguments came via an article that he published with Spain’s El Pais, in which he said:
We must begin with an act of contrition [and] accept that, despite important gains, our plan for 2019 failed. It did not achieve an end to the usurpation [of the presidency by Maduro], nor a transitional government. We also did not see free elections… Venezuela lost, and the usurper [Maduro] remains in Miraflores, his cruelty acting as an imminent threat.
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