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Spain under Borrell recognises Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s interim president

In January 2019 Spain’s foreign minister joined several EU states in recognising Guaidó. In the causal graph this event weakens Democratic Resilience, a driver that strengthens Having a say in government — a worsening welfare path.

Sources: [1][2]

Read the full account

In January 2019 Spain’s foreign minister joined several EU states in recognising Guaidó. The bet later collapsed. Recognition is a completed diplomatic act of his Madrid year.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Josep Borrell

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.5 · verified

    He issued Spain’s line. Partners still split. Maduro remained in Miraflores.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

    1. FactSpain under Borrell recognises Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s interim president
    2. weakensDriverDemocratic Resilience
    3. strengthensIndicators (3)Having a say in government
    Worsening path

    impact weight 0.3 · Effect from 26 January 2019 · verified

    Recognising an interim president who cannot take office can reduce the credibility of democratic-conditionality tools.

    • Having a say in government

      via Democratic Resilience

      Worse

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.21 (weight 0.3 × strength 0.7)

      Observed

      29.8% of population aged 16-65 years · 8.13 below the normal line (2023)

      Worse than normal

      Two readings: 30.2% of population aged 16-65 years (2021) and 29.8% of population aged 16-65 years (2023).

      20212023

      Above normal = better

    • Clean elections index

      via Democratic Resilience

      Worse

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.14 (weight 0.3 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      0.53 score from 0 to 1 · 0.34 below the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      125 readings, 1900–2024: rose from 0.17 score from 0 to 1 to 0.53 score from 0 to 1.

      Above normal = better

    • WJP Rule of Law Index (global)

      via Democratic Resilience

      Worse

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.14 (weight 0.3 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      0.55 index score (0-1) · 0.26 below the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      Above normal = better

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Reuters — Spain recognises GuaidóReuters · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.Spain MFA — Venezuela 2019Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores · High credibility · verified

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorJosep Borrell
  2. contributed toFactSpain under Borrell recognises Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s interim president
  3. weakensDriverDemocratic Resilience
  4. strengthensIndicatorHaving a say in government

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Spain under Borrell recognises Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s interim president. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/es-borrell-guaido-2019

https://factrail.ai/facts/es-borrell-guaido-2019

Accessed 16 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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