The Spanish government does not rule out new sanctions against the Venezuelan government or new measures if the Chavista regime does not publish the minutes of all the polling stations. “I do not rule out anything at all,” said the Foreign Minister. Jose Manuel Albaresthis Monday.
“We will mix any measure This can help the democratic will of Venezuelans to triumph. There are sanctions in effect at the moment“The sanctions are pronounced unanimously, with the support and backing of Spain. And they are not an end in themselves, but rather seek to modify a situation,” he explained in an interview with Cadena Ser.
The minister reiterated that the Spanish government will not stray from its objective, which is a “solution peaceful and negotiated which is neither violent nor imposed from outside.”
As the Ministry of Foreign Affairs already announced last week, Spain demands that the Venezuelan government publish the minutes of all polling stations and their verification.
“We will not accept any result if it is not displayed and verified. We are not going to recognize numbers that we do not know where they come from. That is how democracies work,” said Albares, who avoided calling the “dictatorship” the Venezuelan situation. The European Union and it will not grant any recognition until this happens, as agreed in the joint letter of the 27 Member States.
The head of Spanish diplomacy also assured that he was in contact with the Venezuelan opposition, particularly with its leaders, Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia and the Venezuelan government.
PP criticism
Albares also regretted the PP’s accusations against the Spanish government since the Venezuelan elections. “I want to clearly denounce the PP’s irresponsibility, which criticizes the equidistance or the silence of the government. And that is not true. Spain was one of the first, if not the first, to demand electoral registers,” the minister said.
The head of Foreign Affairs assured that Spain “does not act in a dizzy because he has a responsibility and wants the solution to come peacefully and through dialogue. “This is how María Corina Machado conveys it to me,” Albares added.
Likewise, Albares accused the PP of using the Venezuelan crisis as an electoral strategy. “The PP does not think about Venezuelans at any time, it only wants exhaust the governmentThe opposition is asking for mediators, like me, between it and the Government. “I could make grandiloquent statements, but that would not advance anything,” he explained.
Shoemaker
The Foreign Minister also defended former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, whom the PP accuses of complicity with the Chavista regime.
“Zapatero fulfills a function in Venezuela that the government values and appreciates. He does it in his own name as a former president. But the important thing is that he receives the gratitude of the opposition and the Venezuelan government,” he assured.
The minister recalled that Zapatero played a “very important role” in the release of several political prisoners, including Leopoldo López. Former President Mariano Rajoy even thanked Zapatero for his help in the release of the opponent in 2017.
Sanchez’s defense
Albares also regretted that “there has been harassment of all kinds against the President of the Government” since his arrival at Moncloa. “Everyone knows that his wife would not be in this situation if she were not the wife of the President of the Government,” he said.
The minister did not at any time explicitly refer to the judiciary or to Judge Juan Carlos Peinado, the magistrate in charge of the “Begoña Gómez Case”, investigated for corruption in the private sector and influence peddling. He mentioned that in some media there were “hoaxes” of all kinds.
Finally, he took the opportunity to stress that “Spain’s international position has never been so strong.” “The doors of the White House and the presidential palace in Beijing are open, and it is not easy, I say this as Minister of Foreign Affairs,” he stressed.
