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European nations raise pressure on Venezuela’s Maduro
LISBON, Portugal — A key group of European Union countries endorsed Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s interim president on Monday, piling the pressure on embattled President Nicolas Maduro to resign and let the country hold a new presidential election.
Maduro, for his part, stood defiant and accused the United States of preparing a coup in the South American country. He also said he is trying to recruit the pope’s support for the opening of talks on Venezuela’s future.
Spain, Germany, France and Britain delivered diplomatic blows to Maduro’s rule by publicly supporting Guaido after giving Maduro a Sunday deadline to call a presidential election, which he didn’t heed. Sweden, Denmark, Austria, the Netherlands, Lithuania and Portugal also lined up behind Guaido, the self-declared interim president who also has the support of the United States and many South American nations.
The European countries urged Guaido to hold free and fair elections as soon as possible.
“We are working for the return of full democracy in Venezuela: human rights, elections and no more political prisoners,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a televised announcement.
He said Spain, which has a large Venezuelan community, is also working on a humanitarian aid program for Venezuela, where shortages of basic items are acute. Critics of Maduro blame the Venezuelan government’s mismanagement for the lack of food and medical supplies.
British Prime Minister Theresa May’s spokesman, James Slack, said Britain is considering imposing sanctions to help bring about change in Venezuela.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said during a visit to Japan on Monday that Guaido “is the legitimate interim president.”
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, speaking to France Inter Radio, appealed for an early presidential election that will ensure “the Venezuelan crisis ends peacefully.”
Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom said the election that brought Maduro to power was neither free nor fair and told Swedish broadcaster SVT on Monday that Venezuelans “now must get new, free and fair elections instead.”
Guaido’s backers say he is the legitimate leader because he is president of Venezuela’s congress, which they regard as the only lawfully elected power in the country.
Around 1 million people resident in Venezuela also possess a European passport, Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva told a news conference in Lisbon.
Western Hemisphere nations were set to add to the pressure Monday during a meeting in Canada of the Lima Group, which includes 13 countries that have been vocal in denouncing Maduro.
But the socialist leader showed no signs of caving in and lashed out at the EU and the Trump administration, which has also put pressure on the Venezuelan government by imposing sanctions on Venezuelan oil exports and demanding Maduro’s departure.
“I don’t accept ultimatums from anybody,” Maduro told Spanish TV channel La Sexta in an interview broadcast late Sunday. “Why should the EU be giving ultimatums to a country?”
He added that Venezuela is being “threatened by the biggest powers in the world.”
Turning to Washington’s role in the Venezuelan crisis, Maduro claimed that “the military option is on (U.S. President) Donald Trump’s table.”
“The United States wants to return to the 20th century of military coups, subordinate puppet governments and the looting of resources,” Maduro said.
Maduro said Monday he has written to Pope Francis asking for help in fostering dialogue. Maduro said in an interview with Italy’s Sky TG24 that he hopes the letter is in route or has reached the Vatican.
Maduro said he has asked Francis to “facilitate and reinforce” dialogue on Venezuela’s crisis.
Some of the EU countries backing Guaido are part of a newly formed “International Contact Group” of eight European and four Latin American nations. It aims to address the crisis in Venezuela and is due to hold its first meeting in Uruguay on Thursday.
Santos Silva, the Portuguese diplomat, said the Contact group wants to end Venezuela’s political stalemate through the ballot box, preventing a civil war or an “illegitimate foreign intervention.”
Barry Hatton, The Associated Press
The cost of the bureaucracy increased by $6 billion last year, according to newly released numbers in Public Accounts disclosures. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on Prime Minister Mark Carney to immediately shrink the bureaucracy.
“The Public Accounts show the cost of the federal bureaucracy is out of control,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “Tinkering around the edges won’t cut it, Carney needs to take urgent action to shrink the bloated federal bureaucracy.”
The federal bureaucracy cost taxpayers $71.4 billion in 2024-25, according to the Public Accounts. The cost of the federal bureaucracy increased by $6 billion, or more than nine per cent, over the last year.
The federal bureaucracy cost taxpayers $39.6 billion in 2015-16, according to the Public Accounts. That means the cost of the federal bureaucracy increased 80 per cent over the last 10 years. The government added 99,000 extra bureaucrats between 2015-16 and 2024-25.
Half of Canadians say federal services have gotten worse since 2016, despite the massive increase in the federal bureaucracy, according to a Leger poll.
Not only has the size of the bureaucracy increased, the cost of consultants, contractors and outsourcing has increased as well. The government spent $23.1 billion on “professional and special services” last year, according to the Public Accounts. That’s an 11 per cent increase over the previous year. The government’s spending on professional and special services more than doubled since 2015-16.
“Taxpayers should not be paying way more for in-house government bureaucrats and way more for outside help,” Terrazzano said. “Mere promises to find minor savings in the federal bureaucracy won’t fix Canada’s finances.
“Taxpayers need Carney to take urgent action and significantly cut the number of bureaucrats now.”
Table: Cost of bureaucracy and professional and special services, Public Accounts
| Year | Bureaucracy | Professional and special services |
|
$71,369,677,000 |
$23,145,218,000 |
|
|
$65,326,643,000 |
$20,771,477,000 |
|
|
$56,467,851,000 |
$18,591,373,000 |
|
|
$60,676,243,000 |
$17,511,078,000 |
|
|
$52,984,272,000 |
$14,720,455,000 |
|
|
$46,349,166,000 |
$13,334,341,000 |
|
|
$46,131,628,000 |
$12,940,395,000 |
|
|
$45,262,821,000 |
$12,950,619,000 |
|
|
$38,909,594,000 |
$11,910,257,000 |
|
|
$39,616,656,000 |
$11,082,974,000 |
From the Daily Caller News Foundation
By Jason Hopkins
The Trump administration is creating a first-of-its-kind task force aimed at ushering in a new “Golden Age” of beautiful infrastructure across the U.S.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) will announce the establishment of the Beautifying Transportation Infrastructure Council (BTIC) on Thursday, the Daily Caller News Foundation exclusively learned. The BTIC seeks to advise Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on design and policy ideas for key infrastructure projects, including highways, bridges and transit hubs.
“What happened to our country’s proud tradition of building great, big, beautiful things?” Duffy said in a statement shared with the DCNF. “It’s time the design for America’s latest infrastructure projects reflects our nation’s strength, pride, and promise.”
“We’re engaging the best and brightest minds in architectural design and engineering to make beautiful structures that move you and bring about a new Golden Age of Transportation,” Duffy continued.
Mini scoop – here is the DOT’s rollout of its Beautifying Transportation Infrastructure Council, which will be tasked with making our buildings beautiful again. pic.twitter.com/
9iV2xSxdJM — Jason Hopkins (@jasonhopkinsdc) October 23, 2025
The DOT is encouraging nominations of the country’s best architects, urban planners, artists and others to serve on the council, according to the department. While ensuring that efficiency and safety remain a top priority, the BTIC will provide guidance on projects that “enhance” public areas and develop aesthetic performance metrics.
The new council aligns with an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in August 2025 regarding infrastructure. The “Making Federal Architecture Beautiful Again” order calls for federal public buildings in the country to “respect regional architectural heritage” and aims to prevent federal construction projects from using modernist and brutalist architecture styles, instead returning to a classical style.
“The Founders, in line with great societies before them, attached great importance to Federal civic architecture,” Trump’s order stated. “They wanted America’s public buildings to inspire the American people and encourage civic virtue.”
“President George Washington and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson consciously modeled the most important buildings in Washington, D.C., on the classical architecture of ancient Athens and Rome,” the order continued. “Because of their proven ability to meet these requirements, classical and traditional architecture are preferred modes of architectural design.”
The DOT invested millions in major infrastructure projects since Trump’s return to the White House. Duffy announced in August a $43 million transformation initiative of the New York Penn Station in New York City and in September unveiledmajor progress in the rehabilitation and modernization of Washington Union Station in Washington, D.C.
The BTIC will comprise up to 11 members who will serve two-year terms, with the chance to be reappointed, according to the DOT. The task force will meet biannually. The deadline for nominations will end Nov. 21.
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