Caracas Chronicles

Photo: RT retrieved

As the European Union keeps on delaying Guaidó’s recognition as Venezuela’s President, the European Parliament has spoken loud and clear, becoming the first European Union institution to consider Juan Guaidó the “only legitimate caretaker President”.

The adopted motion also urged the 28 members of the EU to join the Grupo de Lima, the U.S., Australia, Israel and Morocco to recognize the Speaker of the Venezuelan National Assembly as the country’s rightful head of state.

At a special session in the Belgian capital, 439 MPs voted in favor of recognizing Guaidó, with 104 members pressing the red button (do they really have a red button?) and 88 abstentions.

Almost all of the European governing parties belong to the four biggest groups represented in the continental Parliament. All the four biggest parliamentary groups voted for the recognition of Guaidó, which was presumably rejected by the just over 100 communist and filo-communist lawmakers sitting in the hemicycle this term.

This summary breakdown of the overwhelming majority that supported the motion seems to confirm: most European governments would have preferred to recognize Guaidó from the beginning. 

This summary breakdown of the overwhelming majority that supported the motion seems to confirm: most European governments would have preferred to recognize Guaidó from the beginning, but a declaration in line with that of most democracies in the Americas was blocked by those who still want to try to talk to the dictator and his henchmen.

In addition to this, the vote shed light on the August figure of the Parliament’s president, Antonio Tajani. A long-time friend of the Venezuelan democratic cause, Tajani is a cultivated politician that consciously represents European values and dares invoke them in deep and solemn speeches.

This rare species who chairs the European legislative branch is the son of a Greek and Latin professor and of an Italian Army officer. Tajani, who was himself an Army officer and worked as a journalist with the great Indro Montanelli, lived in France for five years when his father was assigned to the NATO command.

Getting back to the European Parliament session in Brussels, Tajani gave a powerful speech in Spanish denouncing the “more than 40 deaths and 900 arrests” during the current wave of protests in Venezuela. He slammed Maduro for forcing “more than 3 million people” to leave their country, and showed a much more profound understanding of the tragedy than all those who still speak about “a conflict” and call for “dialogue” when it’s been made clear that things have reached “a point of no return”.

Tajani showed a much more profound understanding of the tragedy than all those who still speak about “a conflict” and call for “dialogue” when it’s been made clear that things have reached “a point of no return”.

“I spoke on the phone with President Guaidó, our sole interlocutor, to ensure our support from the European Parliament,” said Tajani, who was allegedly asked by Leopoldo’s brilliant disciple to start leading the efforts to identify and freeze chavista ill-gotten assets and money in Europe.

Looking back at the European Parliament’s past actions in support of freedom in Venezuela, Tajani said (referencing China and Russia): “Some countries are only interested in oil. We care about the people and the suffering of many Venezuelans.”

He said venezuelano instead of the correct Spanish term: venezolano. Oblivious to the suffering many Venezuelans live through daily, a group of MPs burst into a complacent and rowdy laughter. Tajani was visibly annoyed, and without losing his composure he reacted quickly and severely, as he spoke in Latin to those incapable of grasping the transcendence of anything other than themselves: “Risus abundat in ore stultorum,” which translates to “Laughter is abundant in the mouth of fools.”