Spain became the first leading EU country to do so on Monday as EU pressure on Maduro increases. "The Spanish government announces that it officially recognizes Venezuela's National Assembly president as acting president of  Venezuela," Sanchez told reporters, calling on Guaido to call elections quickly. "We are working for the return of full democracy in Venezuela: human rights, elections and no more political prisoners."

UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt soon followed suit, announcing on Twitter that Britain, "alongside European allies now recognizes [Juan Guaido] as interim constitutional president until credible elections can be held."

Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Austria also joined the growing list of European countries that have broadly coordinated their stance on Venezuela; Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom told Swedish Radio that "in this situation, we support and consider Guaido as a legitimate interim president." Meanwhile, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz tweeted that Guaido "can rely on our full support in his efforts to re-establish democracy in Venezuela, which has been suffering too long from poor governance and the absence of the rule of law."

Pressure grows on Maduro

French President Emmanuel Macron also took to Twitter to throw his country's support behind Guaido. His foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, had earlier told French that Guaido had the right to call snap elections. "Faced with President Maduro's refusal to organize presidential elections which would clarify, calm the situation in Venezuela ... we consider that Mr Guaido has the capacity and legitimacy to organize these elections." Maduro has offered to call parliamentary elections, however Le Drian insisted that only a presidential election could end the crisis "because it's a presidential regime" in Venezuela.

Guaido, already recognized by the US, Canada, Australia, and several Latin American countries, said he would soon lobby the EU for badly-needed humanitarian and economic aid.

The question is whether the latest pressure will actually make a difference. So far Maduro has rejected and ignored EU ultimatums. The so-called Lima group of 14 Latin American nations is set to meet to discuss a way out of the crisis but its members are expected to be more cautious in any demands for fear of setting a precedent for political crises. For countries like Colombia, which neighbors Venezuela, this is a concern. "The most important issue now is to get Europe in line and to deepen the isolation of Venezuela and its backers," said a government official in Bogota.