Following the latest developments in Venezuela, S&D Group President Gianni Pittella said:
“Citizens being shot by the security forces is the last step in the deterioration of the system in Venezuela. What started with the refusal to accept the victory of the opposition and the majority of the Parliament, progressed into a range of decisions designed to undermine the democratic functioning of institutions including the submission of civilians to military courts.
“This situation has only got worse – the arbitrary detention of opposition representatives, an unsuccessful attempt at mediation that we supported for the sake of national reconciliation, and finally a society on edge of the civil war. It is enough Mr Maduro. Your culpability is enormous, and as a self-described defender of the vulnerable people, you cannot simply insist it is all a mistake or misunderstanding. To be wrong is human; to insist on this wrong path is evil.
“We as Social Democrats will not close our eyes to the people of Venezuela fighting for their physical and political survival, as the economic situation is as dire as the political one. The Maduro government’s totalitarian drift and mismanagement of the crisis, caused by the collapse of the oil price, is destroying any progress reached by the previous governments in terms of social benefits.
“The sharp rise in infant and maternal mortality, up 65% and 30% in 2 years, and shortages of everything including food, medicines and vaccines are hitting the poorest hardest. My call on behalf of the European progressive family is to you President Maduro: give up. The chaos you have caused is leading to your people’s starvation. In cannot continue like this – give up.
“My second message is in solidarity with the Venezuelan people: resist. The present is brutal but the future can still be positive. In addition, to the democratic parties, the political representatives in jail, in the Parliament and in the local councils I say: do not let the institutions die. They have to work after the country wakes up from this nightmare.”
