The government of Pedro Sanchez understands that the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, invented an “implausible” plot of fake spiesand that he is doing it to cover up his electoral fraud, escape the international blockade and thus put an end to his internal questioning.
All this in a climate of pessimism within the international community, which considers that an immediate change in Venezuela is increasingly difficult. Nor does he believe that it is possible that Maduro admits electoral fraud and does not revalidate the position on January 10.
Authorized government sources insist on denying that the two Spaniards detained in Venezuela are linked to the CNI, much less that they are part of a plot against Maduro or that they plan to transport weapons.
The same official sources explain that the two detainees, with whose families they are already in contact, They do not belong to the Spanish secret services They also do not have any relations with the Spanish embassy in Caracas. There are members of the CNI in that embassy, but this is not the case.
The usual practice is that when spies are arrested in other countries remains silent as to whether they actually are or not. Furthermore, it is refused if, as in the present case, they have nothing to do with these activities. This happened with the arrest of Pablo Gonzalez in Poland, accused of being a Russian spy: Neither Putin’s government nor that of Spain have confirmed or denied that he was a spy. It was later discovered that this was indeed the case.
Venezuela announces the arrest of two Spaniards for an alleged plan against Maduro.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs headed by José Manuel Albares responded to the arrests by asking the Venezuelan authorities to maintain direct and fluid contact with the two Spaniards, as is currently the case. mandatory in diplomatic practice.
Until yesterday afternoon, they have not succeeded, but they have contacted their families in Spain to reassure them and offer them help. Direct and indirect efforts are also being made with the Maduro government to establish this contact with it and to ask for his release.
In fact, the Spanish government learned of the arrests at the same time as the others, thanks to the television intervention last Saturday night, Diosdado Hairvice president of Venezuela, without even an official notification.
When such an arrest is made, there must be a written and official notification specifying the charges against the accused. At that time, you can exercise the appeal “consular protection“This is what allows us to get in touch with them, identify them and provide them with legal assistance. This was done, for example, with Pablo González in Poland.
Foreign Affairs sent this Sunday a “verbal note“to the government of Venezuela, which is the most official communication between two states, in which he formally requested contact with the detainees of the Maduro regime.
They understand that the arrests and subsequent accusations have the same logic as the withdrawal of the Venezuelan ambassador to Madrid due to the statements of the Minister of Defense, Marguerite Robleswho assured that Venezuela is “a dictatorship”The sources consulted defend that it is about overcoming the external and internal siege by looking for an enemy outside the country. In this case, Spain.
José María Basoa Valdovinos and Andrés Martínez Adasme
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The goal, according to these sources, is to convince that there is some kind of conspiracy or foreign armed activity against Maduro to give the impression that there is an external aggression.
Spain as mediator
The Sánchez government assures that the two incidents do not eliminate Spain from the privileged position it enjoys to seek solutions to the democratic crisis in the Latin American country and do not prevent Maduro from taking advantage of what they consider “undeniable” electoral fraud.
There are several open tracks with Brazil, Colombia and other countries in the region. The Government maintains close contacts with the Lula da Silva with the idea that the only possible solution to the situation is negotiation between Maduro and the opposition. They admit, however, that “the path will be very difficult.”
Spanish government sources explain that in these negotiations, Spain, as a key player, will play a leading role. “If each European country is worth one point, Spain is worth twenty” in the search for a solution.It is very difficult to negotiate without Spainbecause the voice of Spain resonates very strongly on this issue.”
Sánchez prefers to maintain a coordinated position with the European Union with the idea of achieving the difficult objective of Maduro not taking office in January. That is when the possibility of recognizing the adversary can be assessed. Edmundo Gonzalez as president-elect. Now, they say, it makes no sense and does not help at all.
What Spain, nor the rest of the EU, will not do is recognize Maduro, because he lack of democratic legitimacy.
The information available to the Spanish government indicates that there is no no trace of that there are movements or plots against Maduro within the Venezuelan armed or security forces. Of course, they do not expect Maduro to present the electoral results either. Therefore, Albares requested last Monday 9 to appear before the Foreign Affairs Committee of Congress to report on relations with Venezuela and on “the government’s decision to grant asylum to opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia.”
