Ahead of tomorrow’s parliamentary and regional elections in Venezuela, Carlo Fidanza, Head of the Italian Delegation of the ECR Group and Vice-Chair of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly condemned the latest wave of repression against opposition figures and asked to increase international pressure on the Maduro regime.

Fidanza said:

“These are yet another round of sham elections, overshadowed by the arbitrary arrest of democratic opposition leaders such as Juan Pablo Guanipa, a close ally of María Corina Machado.

“The narco-communist regime of the illegitimate President Maduro continues its crackdown with impunity.

“It is time to increase international pressure, to close this long chapter of criminal tyranny, to free all political prisoners, to recognise the clear election of Edmundo González Urrutia, and to finally restore democracy and liberty for the Venezuelan people.”