Jeremy Corbyn is under pressure from MPs and socialist politicians in Europe to condemn personally President Maduro’s violent regime in Venezuela.
British MPs from all parties called last night for the Labour leader to speak out after his historical support for the state’s leadership. Censure of Mr Maduro grew yesterday following reports that two opposition leaders have been seized from their homes.
Angela Smith, a Labour MP who has joined a new all-party parliamentary group on Venezuela, declared herself “appalled” at the “wilful destruction of democratic structures” in the country.
“I hope that my party leadership will as soon as possible condemn what’s happening in the country and call for the release of opposition party political prisoners,” she said.
Graham Jones, another Labour MP and chairman of the group, said: “I believe everybody in the Labour Party should condemn the Venezuelan regime because the first duty of any state is to look after its citizens. Venezuela has failed.”
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He pointed to food shortages, hyperinflation, reports of citizens “locked up and disappeared, murdered” and the flow of cocaine from the nation to Britain and the rest of Europe. Under Mr Maduro, Venezuela has been pushed to the brink of bankruptcy. Its economy, which has shrunk by a third since 2014, will contract a further 12 per cent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund. Shortages of basic items are common and since April protests have raged almost daily and at least 105 people have been killed.
Mr Corbyn had praised Venezuela as a “better way of doing things” under Mr Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez. He welcomed the former leader to London in 2006 and paid tribute to him upon his death in 2013. Mr Maduro has described Mr Corbyn as a “friend of Venezuela”.
The Labour leader last lauded Mr Maduro’s regime in June 2015, before his first party leadership contest, saying that its achievements in housing, health, education and jobs were “a cause for celebration”. He has not spoken publicly on the country since.
The Tory MP Mark Pritchard, a member of the all-party group, praised Mr Corbyn’s long history of campaigning for human rights in Latin America, but added: “His silence on Venezuela is now disappointingly deafening.” Sir Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat leader, told The Times: “I think a lot of British people would be reassured if the leadership of the Labour Party made it clear that they had ended their infatuation with the Venezuelan regime.”
Mr Corbyn was also looking more isolated after Gianni Pittella, leader of the Socialist MEPs in the European parliament, censured Mr Maduro over his power grab at the weekend.
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With parliament under opposition control, Mr Maduro is creating a rival body that will have the power to redraw the constitution. The opposition, describing the process as a sham, boycotted Sunday’s elections in which members of the new body were chosen. Among those elected were Mr Maduro’s son, Nicolás Jr, and his wife, Cilia Flores. Critics say that the new assembly will bypass parliament and establish a Cuban-style dictatorship.
Mr Pittella said: “The vote cannot be seen as a genuine act of democracy — it was held against a backdrop of political violence, only increases divisions in the country and threatens Venezuela’s democratically elected institutions.
“The election was a sham and the latest example of President Maduro’s slide towards authoritarianism. We condemn his actions in the strongest possible terms.”
Other left-wing European parties weighed in to distance themselves from the Caracas regime. Pedro Sánchez, the leader of Spain’s socialist party, said he “strongly condemned the destruction of the democratic freedoms that is taking place in Venezuela”.
He added: “We must demand from the Maduro regime — because it must be called that — the liberation of each and every political prisoner.”
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Leopoldo López and Antonio Ledezma, the two opposition leaders, were detained after the supreme court ruled that they had violated the terms of their house arrests by calling for protests against the weekend vote.
On Monday Liz McInnes, Labour’s shadow foreign minister, urged “the government of Venezuela to recognise its responsibilities to protect human rights, free speech and the rule of law”.
She added: “President Maduro must also respond personally to the legitimate concerns of the international community about the increasingly authoritarian nature of his rule and the growing hardship facing his people.”
A spokeswoman for Mr Corbyn said Ms McInnes’s remarks represented the party’s position on the importance of respect for the rule of law and human rights. Sources indicated that Mr Corbyn did not plan to make a statement.
•Britain is unlikely to change its sanctions regime against pariah states immediately after Brexit. The government is publishing details today of a draft bill for when it takes control of the sanctions decisions now made by the European Union. The government says that this will enable Britain to continue to play a central role in global sanctions to combat terrorism, conflict and the proliferation of nuclear weapons. One source said it was unclear whether this would achieve much as sanctions are best when they are collective. The criteria for sanctions will be broadly similar.
