French President Emmanuel Macron described the detained Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro as a dictator, calling his departure “good news” for the Venezuelan people. However, Macron stressed that France neither supports nor agrees with the method used by the United States to arrest Maduro and transfer him to U.S. territory.
The remarks were made during a cabinet meeting on Monday, according to French government spokesperson Maud Bregeon, who quoted Macron as saying that France stands by international law and the freedom of peoples, and that the way Washington carried out the operation does not reflect Paris’s position.
Macron explained that Maduro had confiscated freedoms and undermined the 2024 presidential elections, adding that any transitional process should give a central role to the winner of the 2024 vote. He noted that the opposition and the international community considered Maduro’s victory in those elections illegitimate, and that the rightful winner was Edmundo González Urrutia.
On Saturday, Macron had called for a peaceful transition of power in Venezuela, emphasizing that Venezuelans should welcome the end of Maduro’s dictatorship. In a post on X, he wrote: “By seizing power and suppressing fundamental freedoms, Nicolás Maduro has caused serious harm to the dignity of his people,” calling for a peaceful and democratic transition that respects the will of the Venezuelan people under the leadership of Urrutia as soon as possible.
