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Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said on Thursday that the European Union (EU) must see what “tools” it has to respond to the crisis in Venezuela given the evidence that the electoral records will not be presented, but he ruled out talking about sanctions and said that it is necessary to continue betting on dialogue.

“We continue to support dialogue and negotiation between Venezuelans so that the democratic will is respected,” Albares said upon arriving at an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers.

“We have to see,” he added, “what tools we have available to advance this desire.”

At the meeting, the presidential candidate of Venezuela’s main opposition coalition, Edmundo González Urrutia, will address via videoconference the foreign ministers of the European Union, who today will discuss the crisis in that country, among other issues.

Petition

Albares explained that, at Spain’s request, the EU will be asked through a joint declaration “not to recognise any electoral result or, of course, any type of victory (…) if the minutes of all the polling stations are not displayed and can be verified.”

But at the same time, he said, Spain plans to “state that more than enough time has passed” and that “we will be faced with the situation that we will probably not be able to see and the opposition will not be able to analyse these minutes.”

Albares also recalled reports from observers such as the Carter Center and the United Nations Panel of Experts “which raise very serious doubts about what happened at the time of the electoral recount” and “a series of circumstances” that mean that the necessary democratic guarantees cannot be considered to have existed.

He also referred to contacts with Brazil, a country with which there is “full agreement to join forces, Europe and Latin America, to achieve this dialogue and negotiation,” he said.

What Spain will seek, Albares explained, is “a common position” between the EU and the Latin American countries “that have the same interest” in seeing “the democratic will triumph.”

The search

The aim of today’s meeting is “an analysis” in which questions are raised such as “what we can do and what we should do” with the “ultimate objective” of “dialogue between Venezuelans” and for a “negotiated, peaceful, genuinely Venezuelan solution,” he added.

Asked about the possibility of sanctions, the minister said that “there is no need to lose patience at all” and stressed that the Venezuelan opposition also continues to support dialogue and negotiation.

Regarding possible new elections in the country, the Spanish minister said that “as an intellectual hypothesis we could consider it, if that were what the government and the opposition agreed on” but added that he had confirmed “that both the government and the opposition rule it out.”

He insisted that the most important thing is to achieve “dialogue” and negotiation, “so that the Government and the opposition can sit together.”

Albares acknowledged that “not all countries in the European Union are aware of the situation in Venezuela, nor do they have that historical, cultural, human, and all kinds of relationship” with the country, which makes Spain more familiar with the situation.

Regarding the possibility of recognising Armando González as was done with Guaidó, he said that it is necessary to see “how all colleagues position themselves” but acknowledged that “at this time it is not the common position of the European Union”.

Madrid / EFE

Alleged ELN guerrillas forced drivers to get out of their vehicles in order to set them on fire. Photo:Screenshot

It was like a return to the past, to the worst times of the war in Colombia. That’s how drivers felt as they traveled along the main road to the Atlantic Coast on Thursday night when, Several armed men who identified themselves as ELN guerrillas set fire to a public bus and three tractor-trailers. The incident occurred between Valdivia and Tarazá.

“Dude, look. The guerrillas came out, brother, they crossed this car and burned four cars here, brother,” reported the driver of another vehicle while recording the terrifying scene with his mobile device.

Videos recorded by drivers show the scale of the terrorist attack perpetrated by the ELN on the highway connecting Medellín with the Atlantic Coast. pic.twitter.com/Nrzrk3Zd9g

— Teleantioquia (@Teleantioquia) August 30, 2024

“Puerto Valdivia, look, at this time. The guerrillas are burning cars,” said another driver who got out of the vehicle to record what was happening with his cell phone.

After committing the terrorist attack, the guerrillas hung an ELN flag on the side of the road and fled.

Before fleeing, the guerrillas hung the ELN flag on the side of the road. Photo: Private archive

The Association of Cargo Transporters (ATC) recommended that heavy-load drivers take extreme security measures due to the current public order situation in the country. “We urge truck drivers to take extreme care and avoid driving at night”they recommended on their X account.

Army troops deployed

Given the delicate situation, The governor of Antioquia, Andrés Julián Rendón, reported that troops from the National Army went to the sector to provide security. to the truck drivers and travellers who, between Thursday night and early Friday morning, were trapped and unable to move along the important road.

I have been informed that, on the road leading to the Atlantic Coast, between Puerto Valdivia and Tarazá, criminals committed a terrorist act by setting fire to two vehicles. Among them, a public service bus. @COL_EJERCITO is coming to the area to ensure the… pic.twitter.com/wb1hgbDJ7E

— Andres Julian (@AndresJRendonC) August 30, 2024

“I have been informed that, on the road leading to the Atlantic Coast, between Puerto Valdivia and Tarazá, criminals committed a terrorist act by setting fire to two vehicles. Among them, a public bus. The Army is arriving in the area to ensure security and restore public order,” the president assured in his X account.