Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1079163
5 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 6 FEBRUARY 2019 NEWS PAUL COCKS THE Malta Gaming Authority is currently processing more than 20 applications from new gaming companies looking to start the licensing process in or- der to operate from Malta, the parliamentary secretary for fi- nancial services said yesterday. Silvio Schembri is currently attending the 2019 edition of ICE London, the B2B (busi- ness to business) gaming event which brings together the in- ternational online and offline gaming sectors. After meeting a number of prospective investors, Schembri said many operators were very interested in Malta's proactive stance in embracing new tech- nologies. They particularly welcomed the guidelines that the Malta Gaming Authority issued on the use of Distributed Ledger Technologies and acceptance of Virtual Currencies in a Sand- box Environment. Schembri said he was very sat- isfied with Malta's huge pres- ence at ICE London; a perfect platform for Malta to show- case itself on what makes it 'the home of gaming excellence'. In fact, the 2019 edition of ICE London features exhibi- tors from 66 countries. Around 11% of the exhibitors are Malta- based, second only to the host country and more than the United States. Schembri said that esports operators had also expressed a lot of interest in Malta and teh strategy the government in- tends to launch in the coming weeks. This is the fifth year the MGA has participated in ICE London. 20 new gaming companies to set up shop in Malta Parliamentary secretary Silvio Schembri (left) said operators welcomed the legislative overhaul that Malta introduced last year MATTHEW VELLA MALTESE MEP Alfred Sant can see a contradic- tory, political game when it happens. As a host of EU states rushed to recognise a right-wing Opposition leader who has ap- pointed himself 'interim president' of Vene- zuela, run by the democratically-elected Nico- lás Madura, the former Malta prime minister told MEPs they have no legal status to recog- nise or not any government's sovereign status. Venezuela is a country in chaos right now, but even the EU could not get its own message on foreign policy right: while France, Germany and the U.K. have officially recognized Juan Guaidó as Venezuela's interim president after Maduro ignored a demand to call new elec- tions, other EU countries – including Belgium, Finland and Sweden – stopped short of recog- nizing Guaidó, the National Assembly presi- dent, just issuing messages of support. Italy blocked a joint statement by the EU – leaving the high representative for foreign af- fairs, Federica Mogherini, an Italian, forced to issue a complex statement. "We did not par- ticipate, none of us, at the inauguration of Ma- duro on the 10th of January and we recognize as the legitimate institution of the country, the National Assembly, and recognize the role of its president. This is clear. This is a common position." Sant has now abstained on a European Par- liament resolution calling for the recognition of the Opposition in Venezuela as the rightful government, which passed with 439 votes in favour, 104 against and 88 abstentions. "The European Parliament has no legal standing to recognize or not the sovereign and diplomatic status of governments... Nor should it seek to achieve such a standing, de- spite the empty and absurd claim that it will have been the first EU institution to take a de- finitive stand on Venezuela. It is meaningless for this Parliament to express definitive judge- ments on a situation as complex as in that country," Sant said. The current Venezuelan regime descends from the first democratic government of Hugo Chavez that introduced social and economic reforms against a no-holds-barred opposition from right-wing forces, which have histori- cally been out to defend their vested interests. "During the resulting struggle, the Chavez and then Maduro governments committed huge mistakes, became unacceptably authori- tarian, delivered for a while on their social promises, but ran the market-based economy into the ground. Allegations of corruption abound," Sant said, qualifying his statement. "I cannot endorse such an administration. Neither though, can I bless an Opposition that has been over the years, thoroughly intransi- gent, ready to sabotage the actions of a legiti- mate government, and now openly trades with President Trump for his help to take over the state." On January 23, Juan Guaidó, who recently was installed as president of the country's opposition-led National Assembly, declared himself interim president of Venezuela, in an attempt to oust the incumbent, Nicolás Ma- duro. On Twitter, Donald Trump announced that his administration would officially recognize Guaidó as Venezuela's president, and was soon followed by Canada. In recent days the leading states of the Eu- ropean Union released a common statement announcing that they too would recognize Guaidó if elections were not declared within eight days. The Bank of England has refused to allow the withdrawal of $1.2 billion worth of gold the Bolivarian Republic had stored in its vaults. Guaidó's move was condemned by the inter- national left as an attempted coup, with mem- bers of parliament from the Labour left con- demning the move as an attempt at "regime change" in a letter to the Guardian. There is extreme polarization inside Venezue- la with substantial parts of the population back- ing either side. A sizable anti-Maduro camp is no longer limited to the country's elite, hav- ing spread to other popular sectors of society. But there is also a strong Chavista camp, some of which is very loyal to Maduro, and in oth- ers more critical of Maduro, but still hostile to Guaidó and the Venezuelan opposition. mvella@mediatoday.com.mt Juan Guadio (left) has styled himself 'interim president' of Venezuela and curried international support in a bid to overthrow the democratically-elected Nicolas Maduro administration Sant bursts MEPs' bubble: No power to recognise Venezuelan opposition's attempt to take power