European nations recognize Venezuela's Juan Guaido

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - Several European nations recognized Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido as the interim president on Monday as their eight-day ultimatum to call fresh elections in the South American nation expired.

Spain, the U.K., France, Sweden, Germany and Denmark have announced that they no longer recognize incumbent President Nicolas Maduro as the legitimate president of Venezuela.

The recognition of Guaido, according to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez who made the announcement in a televised speech, has one clear objective: “free and democratic elections” in Venezuela as soon as possible.

Jeremy Hunt, the UK foreign secretary, tweeted: “Nicolas Maduro has not called presidential elections within 8 day limit we have set. So UK alongside European allies now recognises @jguaido as interim constitutional president until credible elections can be held."

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Twitter that they regret Maduro’s decision to turn down EU calls for free and fair elections in Venezuela.

“For us Guaido is the interim president, in accordance with the Venezuelan constitution, to organize free, fair and democratic elections,” he said.

These European nations now join the United States, Canada and several Latin American countries in the recognition of Guaido as interim leader.

Venezuela has been rocked by protests since Jan. 10 when Maduro was sworn in for a second term following a vote boycotted by the opposition.

Tensions climbed on Jan. 23 when Guaido declared himself interim president, but Maduro has so far refused calls to step down.

He has accused the U.S. of orchestrating a coup against his government saying he is open to dialogue with the opposition.

The U.S. has led an international campaign to apply economic and diplomatic pressure on Maduro, including sanctioning last week the country's state-owned oil company and a joint venture with its Nicaraguan counterpart.

Russia, China, Turkey and Iran have also put their weight behind Maduro.

* Ahmet Gurhan Kartal contributed to this report from London, Ayhan Simsek contributed from Berlin