VENEZUELA-Oppo Pres. Candidate To Speak w/EU Foreign Ministers

Edmundo Gonzalez, the main opposition candidate in the 28 July presidential election, will participate in a video call with European Union foreign ministers later today as part of the informal foreign affairs council meeting in Brussels. Since the election, Gonzalez and the opposition have claimed that the administration of President Nicolas Maduro and the political institutions loyal to him (including the electoral commission and the courts) stole the election and that Gonzalez is the rightful president-elect.

• This has led to sustained protests in several Venezuelan cities, resulting in a crackdown by security services that has resulted in the detention of thousands. The alleged kidnapping of Perkins Rocha, lawyer to opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, could spark an intensificationin anti-govt' demonstrations.
• The EU has refused to recognisethe officially stated result of the election. In a statement it said,"According to the publicly available copies of the [official voting records] Edmundo González Urrutia would appear to be the winner of the presidential election by a significant majority."
• As with many foreign policy issues, the ability of the EU to issue a joint statement is held up in this case by the requirement of unanimity. In July, Hungary blocked a unified EU statement alleging 'flaws and irregularities' in the election. At the same time, the EU said that talk of new sanctions was 'premature'. However, should the crackdown on protesters and opposition activists/politicians continue then this stance could change.