Mr Josep Borrell Vice-President of the European Commission High Representative of the Union for the CFSP Rue de la Loi 170 1000 Brussels
Brussels, 16th April 2021
Dear Mr. High Representative; Mr Vice-President of the Commission:
A delegation from the illegitimate National Assembly of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which emerged from the electoral farce organised on 6th December 2020 by the regime of Nicolás Maduro, recently paid a visit to Brussels and was officially received by the institution you lead.
According to a statement you made on behalf of the European Union on 6th December, this spurious process took place in the absence of electoral conditions that could have guaranteed its credibility, without any respect for political pluralism, and in an atmosphere of persecution and disqualification of democratic leaders whose legitimate rights were curtailed. Your statement concludes that such circumstances could not consider this process credible, inclusive, and transparent and therefore the results did not represent the will of the Venezuelan people.
That initial statement was confirmed on 6 January of this year by a new declaration, in similar terms to those expressed on 6 December, and by the conclusions of the Foreign Affairs Council of 25 January. These reiterated the lack of recognition of the electoral process and regretted the behaviour of the authorities of the Maduro regime, whose actions are preventing a solution to the serious crisis in Venezuela.
We were surprised and gravely concerned to learn that on 14th April, at your request, senior officials of the European External Action Service received the aforementioned delegation, comprising Iris Varela, Pedro Carreño and Desirée Santos Amaral, at the EEAS headquarters.
We consider the treatment given to the delegation to be an extremely serious matter. This is particularly the case as the delegation was led by Ms. Iris Varela, who is widely known for her radical and violent views, for publicly threatening the interim president Juan Guaidó and other democratic leaders, and for being largely responsible for the expulsion of the EU Ambassador in Caracas. This measure was sponsored and promoted by the illegitimate National Assembly, where Ms. Varela is Vice-President.
This action seriously threatens the credibility of the EU, and gives the impression to the public that the interlocutors of the High Representative and the EEAS are the acolytes of the abominable regime of Nicolás Maduro.
For these reasons, we, the undersigned, demand a full explanation of such an erratic policy in relation to the Venezuela crisis, while keeping the possibility of requesting your appearance in Parliament in order to shed light on the matter.
Yours sincerely,
Leopoldo LÓPEZ GIL (European People's Party) Coordinator of the European People's Party Group in the Delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (D-LAT)
Dita CHARANZOVÁ (Renew Europe) Vice President of the European Parliament in charge of Latin American Affairs
Esteban GONZÁLEZ PONS (European People's Party) Vice-chair Group of the European People's Party
Hermann TERTSCH (European Conservatives and Reformists Group) Vice-Chair European Conservatives and Reformists Group / Vice-Chair of the Delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (D-LAT)
Dolors MONTSERRAT (European People's Party) Spokesperson of Partido Popular at the European Parliament
Jorge BUXADÉ (European Conservatives and Reformists Group) Spokesperson of VOX at the European Parliament
José Manuel GARCÍA-MARGALLO Y MARFIL (European People's Party) Vice-Chair of the Delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (D-LAT)
Jordi CAÑAS (Renew Europe) Coordinator of the Renew Europe Group in the Delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (D-LAT)
Anna FOTYGA (European Conservatives and Reformists Group) Coordinator of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group in the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament
María Soraya RODRÍGUEZ RAMOS (Renew Europe) Coordinator of the Renew Europe Group in the Subcomitte of Human Rights of the European Parliament
Antonio LÓPEZ-ISTÚRIZ WHITE (European People's Party) Secretary General of the European People's Party
Antonio TAJANI (European People's Party) Former President of the European Parliament
Pablo ARIAS ECHEVERRÍA (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member
Bartosz ARŁUKOWICZ (European People's Party) D-LAT Member
Isabel BENJUMEA BENJUMEA (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member
Ioan-Rareş BOGDAN (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member
Daniel BUDA (European People's Party) D-LAT Member
Maria da Graça CARVALHO (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member
Pilar del CASTILLO VERA (European People's Party) D-LAT Member
Lefteris CHRISTOFOROU (European People's Party) D-LAT Member
Deirdre CLUNE (European People's Party) D-LAT Member
Christian DOLESCHAL (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member
Herbert DORFMANN (European People's Party) D-LAT Member
Rosa ESTARÀS FERRAGUT (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member
Markus FERBER (European People's Party) D-LAT Member
José Manuel FERNANDES (European People's Party) D-LAT Member
Loucas FOURLAS (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member
Jens GIESEKE (European People's Party) D-LAT Member
Andrzej HALICKI (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member
Christophe HANSEN (European People's Party) D-LAT Member
Krzysztof HETMAN (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member
Danuta Maria HÜBNER (European People's Party) D-LAT Member
Ewa KOPACZ (European People's Party) D-LAT Member
Janusz LEWANDOWSKI (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member
Peter LIESE (European People's Party) D-LAT Member
Norbert LINS (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member
David McALLISTER (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member
Gabriel MATO (European People's Party) D-LAT Member
Nuno MELO (European People's Party) D-LAT Member
Giuseppe MILAZZO (European People's Party) D-LAT Member
Dan-Ştefan MOTREANU (European People's Party) D-LAT Member
Stanislav POLČÁK (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member
Jessica POLFJÄRD (European People's Party) D-LAT Member
Simone SCHMIEDTBAUER (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member
Andreas SCHWAB (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member
Jörgen WARBORN (European People's Party) D-LAT Member
Michal WIEZIK (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member
Juan Ignacio ZOIDO ÁLVAREZ (European People's Party) D-LAT Member
Željana ZOVKO (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member
Milan ZVER (European People's Party) D-LAT Substitute Member
Margarita DE LA PISA CARRIÓN (European Conservatives and Reformists Group) D-LAT Member
Carlo FIDANZA (European Conservatives and Reformists Group) D-LAT Substitute Member
Francisco José MILLÁN MON (European People's Party) AFET Committee Member
Javier ZARZALEJOS (European People's Party) AFET Committee Substitute Member
Karol KARSKI (European Conservatives and Reformists Group) AFET Committee Member
Charlie WEIMERS (European Conservatives and Reformists Group) AFET Committee Member
Jacek SARYUSZ-WOLSKI (European Conservatives and Reformists Group) AFET Committee Member
Kosma ZLOTOWSKI (European Conservatives and Reformists Group) Member of the European Parliament
Dace MELBĀRDE (European Conservatives and Reformists Group) Member of the European Parliament
Mazaly AGUILAR (European Conservatives and Reformists Group) Member of the European Parliament
Nicola PROCACINI (European Conservatives and Reformists Group) Member of the European Parliament
Jadwiga WISNIEWSKA (European Conservatives and Reformists Group) Member of the European Parliament