A number of European countries, including Germany, Spain, France and Britain, sent an ultimatum to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, calling for him to resign and organize early presidential elections. They have given him eight days to decide; otherwise, they will recognize Juan Guaido as the country's legitimate president.
It is true that Venezuela's last presidential elections were controversial. However, given the present situation in the country, calling for early elections is no less than calling for a civil war. One wonders if European countries will call for an international military intervention should a civil war erupt in the country. Maybe they are trying to enter Latin America through such an intervention.
If this is not a call for civil war, than European countries are trying to say Venezuela should have held election after election until somebody they like becomes president. The country held its last presidential election less than a year ago, but it appears Europe was not satisfied with the result. Therefore they are insisting on new elections, hoping that this time the outcome will please them. They did the same in Palestine, when Hamas won the elections. Europe was in favor of elections there, until they saw the outcome. They also did the same thing in Egypt. As they were unhappy with the elected president, they promptly supported a military coup that got rid of him.
Europeans explain their anti-Maduro stance by pointing out the difficult conditions in Venezuela. They say the current president is responsible for the catastrophic socioeconomic conditions in the country, and they claim he is sending his opponents to jail. One would believe in their sincerity if they were acting the same way when it comes to all undemocratic countries. However, they got along quite well with countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt and so on.
There are many countries whose elections were problematic. Even the U.S. is discussing possible foreign meddling in its last presidential election. Besides, one can of course criticize undemocratic practices in other countries. However, isn't it problematic to recognize somebody as a legitimate president just because he has declared himself president without being elected? Let's imagine someone does the same in France or Britain, would the European countries automatically recognize him as president as well?
The U.S. and European attitude toward Venezuela will only help resuscitating the long-gone leftist ideology in Latin America. Socialist ideologues were always saying they were fighting imperialism, social injustice, expansionist capitalism or oppressed peoples, and now they will be able to say, "You see, the Western imperialists are striking again".
One also wonders how the U.S. is supporting PKK-affiliate organizations in Syria while attacking Maduro, given that they all have similar ideological roots.
It is bizarre how quickly European countries reacted to the political turmoil in Venezuela. Maybe this has something to do with the turbulent period they are crossing. To imagine that a Latin America opening will save them only proves how desperate they are. It is obvious that what is going on in this country reflects the global power struggle between the U.S. and Russia, as Venezuela is Russia's stepping stone in South America. Putin is aware that the unrest in Venezuela is about limiting Russia's influence zone globally, as the West used the same methods in Iran or in Ukraine. Russia will probably not be happy with Europe's contribution to the crisis and its opportunism in this new front.
Paradoxically, countries like Russia and China are defending democratic principles in this particular case. Not because they are model democracies, but because of the West's hypocrisy of not recognizing the elections they don't like.
