AFP

The EU on Friday made clear it is prioritising its approach towards regional elections in Venezuela next month over its stance towards opposition leader Juan Guaido, who is against the polls.

Brussels plans to send an election observer mission to Venezuela to monitor the November 21 vote in the impoverished South American country.

Guaido — whom more than 50 countries, including the United States and much of Latin America regard as the acting president of Venezuela — has come out against both the elections and the EU observer mission, along with another high-profile opposition figure, Leopoldo Lopez.

But, said an EU official on condition of anonymity, “you have to look at what influence Guaido and Lopez have”.

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CEL

The official noted that most of Venezuela’s opposition parties have opted to compete in the regional polls, breaking with their past strategy of boycotting elections called by Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro’s government.

That, despite the opposition accusing Maduro of fraudulent re-election in 2018.  

“We respect their (Guaido and Lopez’s) point of view, but their own party is in favour of participating in the elections and the mission,” the official said.

The EU mission is headed by a Portuguese MEP, Isabel Santos, and counts around 100 election experts who are to start arriving in Caracas over the coming days.

On Wednesday, the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement that the elections were “unprecedented”, involving “the majority of political forces for the first time in recent years”.

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No EU member states has raised objections to the mission, though some have voiced worries that it could be used by Maduro’s regime to assert legitimacy.

The EU official said that “even in the US there is a pragmatic tilt. The atmosphere has changed. The aim is to find a negotiated solution to the crisis in that country (Venezuela).”

The EU, US and Canada have said they would be prepared to review their sanctions against Maduro’s government if there is “significant progress” in political talks between it and the opposition taking place in Mexico City.