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Pretender Juan Guaido
When the US announced support for Venezuela's self-declared 'interim president' Juan Guaido in January, European leaders heartily backed the move - but
three months later, after a second failed coup attempt, they are suddenly shy.
With US backing, Guaido attempted to launch a second uprising on Tuesday, urging his supporters to take to the streets and calling on the military to seize power from President Nicolas Maduro. While both pro and anti-government demonstrators held rallies in Caracas,
the military did not defect in great numbers and the coup attempt fizzled out.
In January, European leaders instantly fell in line with US talking points on Venezuela.
Germany, France and Spain issued almost identical threats to recognize Guaido unless snap elections were held within eight days.
UK officials also wasted no time in voicing strong support for Guaido, with little concern for the millions of Venezuelans who support Maduro and worry about the destabilizing effects of US intervention and
devastating effects of US sanctions.
This time around, however, having realized Guaido is not as powerful as they expected, Europe has not been as gung-ho in its support for him. Having initially added to the chaos by encouraging the first uprising,
suddenly the EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini was calling for the "utmost restraint" in order to "avoid the loss of lives."
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