The UK government’s decision to swing behind calls by the EU and US for the Venezuelan government of Nicolás Maduro to call elections within a week, and to join efforts to switch off Maduro’s finances, is evidence of a three-fold strategy.

The government wants to maximise pressure on Maduro to allow elections while keeping the EU united; protect its remaining UK diplomats in Venezuela; and repeatedly point out the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s associations with the governments of Maduro and of his predecessor, Hugo Chávez.

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Following consultations on Friday in Brussels and meetings in Washington between the UK foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, and the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, European leaders toughened their position by setting an eight-day deadline for Maduro to call fresh elections.

Spain, the European country with the closest links to Venezuela as its former colonial power, was the first out of the blocks, followed by France, Germany, the UK and Portugal. The Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, had been hardening his position since Thursday, when he called the opposition leader Juan Guaidó after he claimed to be the legitimate Venezuelan president. Sánchez held an impromptu summit with Latin American leaders at Davos to discuss the crisis.

The official EU statement, issued by its foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, did not go quite so far, calling for fresh elections and threatening “further actions, including on the issue of recognition of the country’s leadership” if Maduro did not comply. Her caution reflects doubts in Austria, Greece and Italy. Some of the doubters support Maduro. Others question a US strategy that could lead to further violence, and even support for a military coup. A joint statement can be vetoed by just one EU country.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Venezuelan opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaidó with his wife Fabiana Rosales in Caracas. Photograph: Carlos García Rawlins/Reuters

By Saturday afternoon, the hawkish Pompeo, speaking at the special UN security council discussion on Venezuela, spelled out how little time the US had for fence-sitters.

“Now it is time for every other nation to pick a side,” he said. “No more delays, no more games. Either you stand with the forces of freedom, or you’re in league with Maduro and his mayhem.”

Sir Alan Duncan, the British minister for Europe and Americas, was unambiguous when he flew to New York to give the British message personally at the UN: “Maduro is no longer the legitimate president of Venezuela,” he said as he endorsed the eight-day deadline.

Until Saturday, the UK had said Guaidó enjoyed widespread support. The caution was in part because as a matter of policy the UK recognises states, not governments. But efforts were under way to unite Europe and think through the consequences of delegitimising Maduro.

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The eight-day pause also gives European diplomats time to bring doubters into line. Leading players, such as Spain, have no illusions that Maduro will call transparent elections, but believe the emphasis on elections shows Europe is backing democracy and not regime change.

British diplomats are determined to show how many chances at reconciliation Maduro has spurned. As long ago as May 2016, for instance, the Union of South American Nations tried to bring the two sides together with the help of the former presidents of the Dominican Republic, Panama and Spain.

Hunt’s support for Guaidó also has a domestic political dimension, because his team see Venezuela as a test case of how a Corbyn-led government would treat leftwing governments with dubious human rights records.

• This article was corrected on 28 January 2019. Pedro Sánchez is the prime minister of Spain, not the president as stated in an earlier version.