The UK foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, has been urged to draw on his experience as a former Foreign Office human rights lawyer to press the legal case that the Venezuelan government of Nicolás Maduro has systematically tortured its people.

The call was led by prominent Venezuela human rights defender Tamara Sujú who visited London to persuade the UK to join six non-European countries in pressuring the international criminal court (ICC) to pursue a case against the Venezuelan leadership.

Raab has also worked as a lawyer for the FCO, stationed from 2000 to 2006 in the Hague and the ICC.

In theory the case could end with Maduro arraigned in front of the court, but progress with the ICC case has the potential to play into the various indirect talks currently underway between supporters of Maduro – who succeeded the leftwing Hugo Chavez as Venezuela’s president – and Juan Guaidó, the self-proclaimed interim leader recognised by most EU countries and backed by the US.

British backing for the ICC investigation would be a further blow for Maduro. The ICC referral was initially backed by Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru, and Canada at the end of last year, becoming the first state referral to the ICC by other states.

A preliminary investigation was launched by ICC in September 2018.

Sujú, executive director of the Casla Institute and a Guaidó supporter, said: “We need a European country, preferably Britain, with sufficiently solid institutions, a democratic tradition and commitment to human rights to join us in the ICC not just with words but to subscribe formally to the case.

“We also need Great Britain to impose personal and economic sanctions against the Maduro regime and to close their spaces”.

The Trump administration tightened economic sanctions against Maduro again this week.

Sujú has compiled over 600 detailed cases of human rights abuses. Her critics say she is part of an army of Maduro’s opponents that use human rights to denounce the leftwing government.

An ICC case has four initial stages, including a case to answer, identification of the victims, assessment of whether the crimes are eligible as crimes against humanity, and whether the government has sought to prosecute the cases.

Sujú’s chief claim is that the arrests of demonstrators, and increasingly figures in the military, are systematically directed by the Maduro government, indicating the leadership would have to face justice at the ICC.

“There are not random accidents of violence,” she said. “What has stood out is that they group masses of protestors 40 or 50 at the time, take them to the station and torture them as a group. We have cases where families were taken. They made the father watch as his child was tortured and then the child would watch his father be tortured. They tortured a mother and daughter take off their clothes off before they applied electricity.”

She highlighted the death of military captain Rafael Acosta Arévalo, who was arrested on 26 June and died three days later. At his military tribunal he was unable to stand, hear or understand what was happening and pleaded with his lawyer for help.

The UN high commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet has visited Venezuela to find political prisoners are tortured, including with electrical currents, simulated drowning, beatings and sexual violence, and is setting up a permanent mission. </s> The UK foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, has been urged to draw on his experience as a former Foreign Office human rights lawyer to press the legal case that the Venezuelan government of Nicolás Maduro has systematically tortured its people.

The call was led by the prominent Venezuela human rights defender Tamara Sujú who visited London to persuade the UK to join six non-European countries in pressuring the international criminal court (ICC) to pursue a case against the Venezuelan leadership.

Raab worked as a lawyer for the FCO, including at the ICC in The Hague, from 2000 to 2006.

In theory the case could end with Maduro arraigned in front of the court, but progress with the ICC case has the potential to play into the various indirect talks currently under way between supporters of Maduro – who succeeded the leftwing Hugo Chavez as Venezuela’s president – and Juan Guaidó, the self-proclaimed interim leader recognised by most EU countries and backed by the US.

British backing for the ICC investigation would be a further blow for Maduro. The ICC referral was initially backed by Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru and Canada at the end of last year, becoming the first state referral to the ICC by other states.

The ICC launched a preliminary investigation in September 2018.

Sujú, executive director of the Casla Institute and a Guaidó supporter, said: “We need a European country, preferably Britain, with sufficiently solid institutions, a democratic tradition and commitment to human rights to join us in the ICC not just with words but to subscribe formally to the case.

“We also need Great Britain to impose personal and economic sanctions against the Maduro regime and to close their spaces.”

The Trump administration tightened economic sanctions against Maduro again this week.

Venezuela: UN report accuses Maduro of ‘gross violations’ against dissenters Read more

Sujú has compiled more than 600 detailed cases of alleged human rights abuses. Her critics say she is part of an army of Maduro opponents who use human rights to denounce the leftwing government.

An ICC case has four initial stages, including a case to answer, identification of the victims, assessment of whether the crimes are eligible as crimes against humanity and whether the government has sought to prosecute the cases.

Sujú’s chief claim is that the arrests of demonstrators and, increasingly, of figures in the military, are systematically directed by the Maduro government, indicating the leadership would have to face justice at the ICC.

Profile Who is Nicolás Maduro? Show Hide Political career Nicolás Maduro has ruled Venezuela without two of the greatest assets possessed by his mentor and predecessor, Hugo Chávez. He has not been lucky. And he has no charisma. Chávez enjoyed an oil bounty and sublime political talents that secured his power at home and reputation abroad. Maduro, in contrast, inherited a wobbling economy addicted to high oil prices and a system of authoritarian populism dependent on showmanship and patronage. Oil prices tumbled and Maduro proved to be a fumbling showman, exposing the financial ineptitude and ideological hollowness of the “Bolivarian revolution”. This could have doomed his presidency, which began in 2013 after Chávez died, but the former bus driver, a hulking bear of a man who rose up trade union ranks, turned out to be tenacious and ruthless. Born into a working class family in Caracas in 1962, he left school without graduating and drove buses for the Caracas metro. He became a union organiser and early supporter of Chávez, who, after leading a failed coup, led a leftwing coalition to an electoral landslide in 1998. Maduro was the speaker of the assembly before serving as Chávez’s foreign minister from 2006 to 2013, a visible if largely silent presence as the comandante held court on the world stage. Chávez anointed Maduro as his heir before succumbing to cancer. The story of his rule – and Venezuela’s agony – is a determination to keep power amid economic collapse, humanitarian disaster and international condemnation. Since January 2019 his presidency has been disputed, with Juan Guaidó being sworn in as interim president, and recognised as Venezuela’s ruler by some international powers. Crisis after crisis has buffeted his government – hyperinflation, food and medicine shortages, power blackouts, mass protests, drone attacks, defections, US-led sanctions – and Maduro has remained standing, resolute, implacable. It is a remarkable position for a man who, in a 2014 Guardian interview, described himself as a bit of a hippy and a fan of Led Zeppelin and John Lennon. “I never aspired to be president,” he said. “I always honour something that commander Chávez told us: that while we were in these posts we must be clothed in humility and understand that we are here to protect the man and woman of the streets.” Rory Carroll

“There are not random accidents of violence,” she said. “What has stood out is that they group masses of protesters 40 or 50 at the time, take them to the station and torture them as a group. We have cases where families were taken. They made the father watch as his child was tortured and then the child would watch his father be tortured. They tortured a mother and daughter, took off their clothes off before they applied electricity.”

She highlighted the death of the military captain Rafael Acosta Arévalo, who was arrested on 26 June and died three days later. At his military tribunal he was unable to stand, hear or understand what was happening and pleaded with his lawyer for help.

The UN high commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet, has visited Venezuela to find political prisoners are tortured, including with electrical currents, simulated drowning, beatings and sexual violence, and is setting up a permanent mission. </s> LONDON, Aug 13 (APP):Stella Creasy, Labour and Co-operative member of parliament (MP) for Walthamstow, while expressing her deep concern on disturbing human rights situation in the Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) has called upon United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to raise the matter at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Stella Creasy, in a letter to Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, said she was writing to him on behalf of many of her constituents in the Walthamstow, who were gravely concerned by the decision of the Indian government to revoke Article 370 of its constitution, thereby stripping the IoK of its autonomous status.

“Given this worrying turn of events we are seeking a strong show of commitment in both words and deed from the UK’s representatives at the United Nations to protect the rights of the people of this region,” she stressed. </s> Venezuela's controversial new assembly has voted to remove the country's dissident attorney general, Luisa Ortega, after security forces surrounded the entrance to her office in Caracas.

Saturday's dismissal came a day after the government inaugurated the new legislative body that Ortega - a one time loyalist turned vocal government critic - said was fraudulently elected.

The assembly has also ordered her to go on trial for alleged "irregularities" while in office.

Ortega told reporters she was attacked when she attempted to enter her headquarters and accused the government of attempting to hide evidence of wrongdoing.

"You didn't see how they manhandled me, how they attacked me with shields," she said.

Rechazo asedio al @MPvenezolano. Denuncio esta arbitrariedad ante la comunidad nacional e internacional #5Ag pic.twitter.com/un7QWGBGJ7 — Luisa Ortega Díaz (@lortegadiaz) August 5, 2017

"Do you know what they are trying to do? Hide the evidence of corruption and human rights violations in Venezuela. I will continue to denounce them and expose them."

Earlier, she denounced what she called a military "siege" on Twitter, publishing photos showing about 30 national guardsmen in riot gear standing outside her headquarters.

Against this backdrop, foreign ministers from several South American countries declared that Venezuela was indefinitely suspended from the South American trading bloc Mercosur for its "rupture of the democratic order".

The United States and the office of the head of the Organization of American states, Luis Almagro, endorsed the suspension.

Venezuela was temporarily suspended in December.

Foes targeted

In a statement she signed as chief prosecutor, Ortega refused to recognise the Constituent Assembly's decision and vowed to continue defending the rights of Venezuelans from Maduro's "coup" against the constitution "with my last breath".

Assembly delegates, meanwhile, swore in Ombudsman Tarek William Saab to replace her.

Saab was recently sanctioned by the US for failing to protect protesters from abuses in his role as the nation's top human rights official.

Al Jazeera's John Holman, reporting from Caracas, described Ortega as a "thorn" in President Nicolas Maduro's side and said her removal from office was not the end of her troubles.

READ MORE: Venezuela - What is a National Constituent Assembly?

"Now her bank accounts are frozen. She's not allowed to leave the country and she's been charged by the Supreme Court for breach of her public duties," he said.

Ortega had asked a local court to halt the inauguration of the 545-member Constitutional Assembly, citing allegations that the government manipulated the results of the vote that created it.

Her request was dismissed on procedural grounds and it was installed on Friday.

The new body supersedes Venezuela's opposition-controlled National Assembly. It can rewrite the Constitution, rearrange state institutions and allow Maduro to rule by decree.

It said it planned to operate as Venezuela's supreme power for up to two years.

Members of the Constituent Assembly had announced they would fire Ortega and other opponents of Maduro the first chance they got.

Maduro himself said on Friday that "if we had an attorney general here that acted ... all these violent protesters would already be in jail".

After their meeting in Sao Paulo on Saturday, the foreign ministers of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Brazil urged Maduro to dismantle the Constituent Assembly and immediately start a political transition.

"We are saying: Stop with this! Enough with the deaths, enough with the repression. It is not possible to inflict such torture to the people," Aloysio Ferreira, Brazil's foreign minister, said.

Several countries have condemned the election of the Constituent Assembly, calling it a bid to extend Maduro's rule indefinitely. His supporters say the move will pacify the country.

At least 120 people have died and hundreds more have been jailed in Venezuela's four-month crisis.

The opposition, meanwhile, is struggling to regain its footing in the face of the government's tactics.

In a sign of its apparent demoralised state, only a few hundred demonstrators showed up for a Friday protest against the assembly, one of the smallest turnouts in months. </s> The United Nations has said it will investigate the death in custody of an opposition councillor jailed by Venezuela’s intelligence police on allegations that he plotted to kill President Nicolás Maduro.

Venezuelan officials said that Fernando Albán killed himself by leaping from the 10th floor of the state police agency’s headquarters. But opposition leaders denied the official version.

Ravina Shamdasani with the Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said Venezuelan officials were obligated to ensure Albán’s safety while in their custody. The investigation into his death will be part of the UN’s wider investigation of alleged human rights abuses, she said.

“We are concerned about news of his death,” Shamdasani said. “We do indeed call for a transparent investigation to clarify the circumstances.”

Albán, 56, was taken into custody on Friday at Caracas’s international airport upon arriving from New York, according to his lawyer. He was in the US accompanying other members of his First Justice party for meetings with foreign dignitaries attending the United Nations general assembly.

A few dozen of Albán’s supporters gathered outside the police building yelling “Maduro killer!” contending that he had been murdered.

“There’s no doubt this was an assassination,” the opposition leader Julio Borges said in a video from exile in neighbouring Colombia, without providing evidence of his claim. “The only thing left for this government is torture, violence and destruction.”

While Venezuelans last year saw dozens of youths killed in violent street battles with security forces, the death of activists or government opponents while in state custody is a fate more associated with the far deadlier, rightwing dictatorships that dominated much of South America in the 1970s.

The opposition claims that more than 100 Venezuelans opposed to Maduro are being held as “political prisoners”, some for more than four years, with little access to the outside world and their legal rights routinely trampled on. The government denies they are political prisoners.

Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro survives apparent assassination attempt Read more

Borges, who led the delegation to the UN, said Albán’s wife told him that her husband had been under intense pressure to testify against him in the ongoing investigation into the alleged plot in early August to kill Maduro using two drones loaded with explosives.

More than two dozen people have been jailed on suspicion of involvement in the plot, which Maduro claims was orchestrated by Borges with the support of Colombia and the US.

The chief prosecutor, Tarek William Saab, ordered an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Albán’s death, which he classified as a suicide.

ISpeaking on state TV, he said Albán was in the waiting room of the headquarters of Venezuela’s intelligence police waiting to be transferred to a courthouse when he asked to use the bathroom. He then threw himself from the 10th floor of the building, officials said.

Borges, who said Albán was a personal friend, said the councillor – who represented a district in the Caracas area – was a family man and devout Catholic who would never kill himself.

Albán’s lawyer, Joel García, said his client seemed calm when they met on the night before in the tribunal. García said authorities cannot determine that a death is a suicide without an investigation and he would ask to be present at the autopsy. </s> CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela’s chief prosecutor on Tuesday asked the country’s top court to ban opposition leader Juan Guaido from leaving the country, launching a criminal probe into his anti-government activities while international pressure builds against President Nicolas Maduro.

Attorney General Tarek William Saab made his request to the government-stacked Supreme Court, and also asked it to block Guaido’s financial accounts.

Saab didn’t specify what crimes Guaido is being investigated for, but said the probe is tied to unrest sparked by his decision to declare himself interim president last week in a direct challenge to Maduro’s authority.

The move comes as international pressure mounts against Maduro’s government from the United States, which earlier in the day handed control over Venezuela’s U.S. bank accounts to Guaido. Russia announced it expects Venezuela to have problems paying its debts.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo certified that Guaido, the congressional leader who has declared himself interim president, has authority to take control of bank accounts that Venezuela’s government has in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York or any other U.S.-insured banks.

Pompeo said the certification will “help Venezuela’s legitimate government safeguard those assets for the benefit of the Venezuelan people.”

Guaido has been recognized as the nation’s rightful leader by two dozen nations that contend the re-election of socialist President Nicolas Maduro was a sham, in part because his strongest opponents were barred from running.

Violent street demonstrations erupted last week when Guaido during a massive opposition rally in Caracas declared that he had assumed presidential powers and planned to hold fresh elections, ending Maduro’s “dictatorship.”

The United States, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador and Paraguay have officially acknowledged Guaido as the legitimate interim head of Venezuela, while countries including Russia and China back Maduro.

Inside Venezuela, Maduro holds the reins of power with the armed forces still loyal despite an opposition push to lure their support by proposing amnesty for anybody who supports Guaido’s transitional government.

Maduro accuses the United States of leading an open coup to oust him and exploit Venezuela’s oil reserves, the largest in the world.

On Monday, the U.S. hit Venezuela’s state-owned oil company with sanctions aimed at increasing pressure on Maduro to leave office.

Guaido said in an interview with CNN in Spanish on Monday that Venezuela’s opposition-controlled congress had approved a measure asking foreign nations to ensure the country’s assets aren’t “looted” by Maduro.

Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak told Russian state news agencies Tuesday “there will probably be problems” for Venezuela in paying its debts.

Storchak said Venezuela owes Russia $3 billion, with repayments twice a year of around $100 million, with the next due in March. Russia also has extensive commercial interests in Venezuela, including state oil company Rosneft’s partnership with Petroleos de Venezuela SA, which was placed under U.S. sanctions Monday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin shares the view of the Venezuelan government that the sanctions are “illegal” and sees them as a tool of unfair competition on part of the United States.

In Spain, state-owned shipbuilder Navantia said it has called back four Spanish technicians from Venezuela who were readying for final delivery a navy patrol ship sold 14 years ago to the Venezuelan government.

A company spokesman said the recall doesn’t change the shipbuilder’s plan to deliver the vessel, which is called Eternal Commander Hugo Chavez. It is the last of eight similar ships that the former Venezuelan leader bought from Spain in 2005 for $1.4 billion.

The U.S. State Department, meanwhile, said that Americans shouldn’t travel to Venezuela, warning of unrest, the threat of being arbitrarily arrested and of mass demonstrations occurring with little notice.

Opposition leaders have called for anti-government demonstrations this week.

The announcement raises the travel advisory to its highest level, putting Venezuela on a no-travel list that also includes Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and South Sudan. </s> CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela’s chief prosecutor on Tuesday asked the country’s top court to ban opposition leader Juan Guaido from leaving the country, launching a criminal probe into his anti-government activities while international pressure builds against President Nicolas Maduro.

Attorney General Tarek William Saab made his request to the government-stacked Supreme Court, and also asked it to block Guaido’s financial accounts.

Saab didn’t specify what crimes Guaido is being investigated for, but said the probe is tied to unrest sparked by his decision to declare himself interim president last week in a direct challenge to Maduro’s authority.

The move comes as international pressure mounts against Maduro’s government from the United States, which earlier in the day handed control over Venezuela’s U.S. bank accounts to Guaido. Russia announced it expects Venezuela to have problems paying its debts.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo certified that Guaido, the congressional leader who has declared himself interim president, has authority to take control of bank accounts that Venezuela’s government has in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York or any other U.S.-insured banks.

Pompeo said the certification will “help Venezuela’s legitimate government safeguard those assets for the benefit of the Venezuelan people.”

Guaido has been recognized as the nation’s rightful leader by two dozen nations that contend the re-election of socialist President Nicolas Maduro was a sham, in part because his strongest opponents were barred from running.

Violent street demonstrations erupted last week when Guaido during a massive opposition rally in Caracas declared that he had assumed presidential powers and planned to hold fresh elections, ending Maduro’s “dictatorship.”

The United States, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador and Paraguay have officially acknowledged Guaido as the legitimate interim head of Venezuela, while countries including Russia and China back Maduro.

Inside Venezuela, Maduro holds the reins of power with the armed forces still loyal despite an opposition push to lure their support by proposing amnesty for anybody who supports Guaido’s transitional government.

Maduro accuses the United States of leading an open coup to oust him and exploit Venezuela’s oil reserves, the largest in the world.

On Monday, the U.S. hit Venezuela’s state-owned oil company with sanctions aimed at increasing pressure on Maduro to leave office.

Guaido said in an interview with CNN in Spanish on Monday that Venezuela’s opposition-controlled congress had approved a measure asking foreign nations to ensure the country’s assets aren’t “looted” by Maduro.

Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak told Russian state news agencies Tuesday “there will probably be problems” for Venezuela in paying its debts.

Storchak said Venezuela owes Russia $3 billion, with repayments twice a year of around $100 million, with the next due in March. Russia also has extensive commercial interests in Venezuela, including state oil company Rosneft’s partnership with Petroleos de Venezuela SA, which was placed under U.S. sanctions Monday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin shares the view of the Venezuelan government that the sanctions are “illegal” and sees them as a tool of unfair competition on part of the United States.

In Spain, state-owned shipbuilder Navantia said it has called back four Spanish technicians from Venezuela who were readying for final delivery a navy patrol ship sold 14 years ago to the Venezuelan government.

A company spokesman said the recall doesn’t change the shipbuilder’s plan to deliver the vessel, which is called Eternal Commander Hugo Chavez. It is the last of eight similar ships that the former Venezuelan leader bought from Spain in 2005 for $1.4 billion.

The U.S. State Department, meanwhile, said that Americans shouldn’t travel to Venezuela, warning of unrest, the threat of being arbitrarily arrested and of mass demonstrations occurring with little notice.

Opposition leaders have called for anti-government demonstrations this week.

The announcement raises the travel advisory to its highest level, putting Venezuela on a no-travel list that also includes Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and South Sudan.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> The United Nations human rights chief called yesterday for an international investigation into atrocities in Venezuela, blasting the government's chronic refusal to probe security officers over the alleged killings of civilians.

"The failure to hold security forces accountable for such serious human rights violations suggests that the rule of law is virtually absent in Venezuela," said Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, as his office launched a new report on the crisis-stricken country.

Zeid asked the UN Human Rights Council to set up its highest-level probe - a Commission of Inquiry - for Venezuela and said the International Criminal Court may need to get further involved.

The Hague-based ICC in February opened a preliminary investigation into crimes allegedly committed by the security forces during a wave of protests against President Nicolas Maduro.

The UN rights office, which examined Maduro's crackdown on protesters in a report last year, said its new findings relate mostly to alleged abuses committed during purported anti-crime operations.

The report highlights alleged extra-judicial killings by officers involved in the Operations for the Liberation of the People.

It said those officers, supposedly tasked with fighting crime, may have been responsible for more than 500 killings between July 2015 and March 2017, largely carried out in poor neighbourhoods. </s> CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - The latest on the political crisis in Venezuela (all times local):

The French Foreign Ministry says it has demanded that Venezuelan authorities release two French journalists working for television channel TMC.

The journalists were arrested on Tuesday.

In a press statement Thursday, the Quai d'Orsay said it has been in contact with officials in Caracas "since the moment our compatriots were arrested."

It did not suggest a motive for the arrests or provide further information.

Jorge Arreaza, the foreign minister of embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, has blamed foreign journalists for entering the country without work permits.

The European Parliament meanwhile has called on the European Union's member states to recognize Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the interim president as Venezuela's political crisis deepens.

An independent U.N. human rights monitor says economic sanctions are compounding a "grave crisis" in Venezuela.

Idriss Jazairy, a special rapporteur focusing on the negative impact of sanctions, expressed concern about "reports" that the U.S. sanctions were "aimed at changing the government of Venezuela." He did not specify the reports.

He added: "The use of sanctions by outside powers to overthrow an elected government is in violation of all norms of international law."

U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to use the "full weight of United States economic and diplomatic power to press for the restoration of Venezuelan democracy." The Trump administration slapped sanctions on Venezuela that could starve the country of billions in oil revenue.

Jazairy's office has taken funds from donors including Russia, one of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's staunchest supporters.

Special rapporteurs do not speak for the United Nations, but are appointed by the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council.

The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry says there are no plans underway for evacuation of the country's diplomats or other citizens from Venezuela, but is declining to comment on why a Russian airliner showed up in the Venezuelan capital's airport.

The arrival of the Boeing 777 belonging to Russian airline Nordwind on Monday has led to widespread speculation, including that Venezuelan officials might be aiming to spirit tons of gold reserves out of the country as a political crisis deepens.

The Associated Press was unable to verify the authenticity of that claim.

Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters Thursday that she could not comment on the airliner, "which was not sent for official goals."

"I can say that this is not about evacuation of Russian diplomats, or their family members or Russian citizens that are employees of overseas agencies or companies," she said.

The European Parliament is calling on the European Union's member states to recognize Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the interim president.

The 28-member bloc is still defining its position on the crisis there.

The EU legislature approved by a 439-104 margin a resolution that also condemned the continued violence and the detention of journalists who sought to cover events there.

"All of Venezuela is watching us," said Esteban Gonzalez Pons of the Christian Democrat EPP group. "Let's make Venezuelan history today by recognizing the democratic and legitimate power of Venezuela."

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called on the South American country to release journalists who were arrested covering the crisis.

"We expect them to be released immediately," she said in Bucharest where EU foreign ministers are set to discuss the crisis later Thursday.

The Spanish government has condemned the detention of three reporters and a driver working for Spain's state-run EFE news agency in Venezuela's capital.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's office issued a statement Thursday calling for their immediate release.

EFE has reported that Colombian photographer Leonardo Munoz disappeared on Wednesday morning in Caracas and that two more reporters, Spaniard Gonzalo Dominguez and Colombian Mauren Barriga, were later taken away from their office by members of Venezuelan intelligence service Sebin. Spain's government says a Venezuelan driver working for the news agency was also taken into custody. He wasn't identified.

Sanchez has said that Spain's government will endorse Juan Guaido as interim president of Venezuela if embattled President Nicolas Maduro doesn't call a presidential election by Sunday.
Venezuelan activist Tamara Sujú visits London to ask the United Kingdom, and specifically Dominic Raab, to pressure the International Criminal Court to investigate claims of torture and human rights abuses by the Nicolás Maduro government.