Statement by the ALDE Party and the ALDE Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on the current situation in Venezuela and the threats to the rule of law in a shifting international order:
Nicolas Maduro was a brutal dictator and the end of his authoritarian rule gives hope for a future in peace and democracy to Venezuelans. It’s the people of Venezuela that need to decide on their future now.
The rest of the Maduro regime holds no legitimacy. The ALDE Party recognises the democratic mandate emerging from the 2024 elections and the role of President Edmundo González and Vice President María Corina Machado as representatives of Venezuela’s democratic forces. We call on all European countries to support the legitimate democratic forces to organise the democratic transition period to free and fair elections under international observation.
Maduro’s rule was illegitimate, but welcoming the end of it must not mean endorsing the methods used to achieve it. Despising the rule of law and aggressively expanding regional spheres of influence is leading to a new world order that us Europeans cannot want. Accordingly we must take the threats by the Trump administration against Greenland extremely seriously.
Europe needs to grow into a diplomatic, economic and defence superpower to defend our democracy and freedom. We need to become an active leader on the world stage, capable of upholding international law, and ensuring that rules, not force, govern the world.
Hear from the 2025 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, María Corina Machado, who delivered a message to the ALDE Party 2025 Congress on Venezuela's democratic future: