The journalist of cnn in the United States Christiane Amanpour put the president of the Spanish government in difficulty, Pedro Sanchez for not having stood up to the Venezuelan dictator, Nicolas Maduro. “Do you think this is reasonable?” the communicator asked the socialist leader during an interview in New York, referring to the South American regime’s request for electoral registers. Accustomed to journalistic cameras to which he grants interviews in Spain, the president of the government hesitates and takes a tangent.
Amanpour asked Sánchez why the government had not taken the step of “recognizing the opposition as the winner of the elections.” The head of the Spanish government avoided entering into this debate and affirmed that “the fact is” that he is “in favor of democracy”. “It is time for the Venezuelan people to find an agreement that could end this crisis,” he added. In addition, he assured that his government has “granted protection in the last two years to 120,000 people from Venezuela.”
On the other hand, Sánchez highlighted having “led regional initiatives to put pressure on political actors to find a path and a solution to this crisis.” “We want to maintain unity among the member states of the European Union to exert this pressure,” he said in his response to the presenter.
“We have not recognized it because what we are asking for is, above all, transparency,” Sánchez said. “What does that mean?” the journalist interrupted. “Request the publication of the results of the votes,” replies the head of the Spanish executive. “To the Maduro government?!” Amanpour asks with obvious gestures of surprise. “No, no, no… for international verification,” the socialist leader tries to correct. “But do you think it’s reasonable to ask?” insists the communicator. “He doesn’t ask for it, he demands it,” replies Sánchez. “But he [Maduro] “He has no interest in doing it,” concludes the journalist.
Sánchez says that it is for this reason that he believes that all these regional initiatives, from the president Lula [Da Silva] and the president [Gustavo] Rockfrom Brazil and Colombia. “Also the regional initiatives that we have launched, as well as the European Union and the Santo Domingo declaration last August, recalling that transparency and democracy go hand in hand,” he says.
The journalist then shows him some images of Maria Corina Machadoleader of the Venezuelan opposition, in which he asks the international community to “recognize what the Venezuelan people have done, to recognize the truth and ensure that popular sovereignty is respected and, therefore, to recognize Edmundo González as president-elect. In this context, Sánchez once again calls for the publication of electoral registers by the Maduro regime to “be subject to international verification.”
The journalist reminds the socialist leader that the United States put pressure on the dictatorship then promised “reduction of certain sanctions” and that “it was of no use.” “That is why I think it is important to always remember that this is a solution that the Venezuelan people must build from there,” says the PSOE general secretary. “What we are trying to do from Spain, the European Union and the international community is to create the conditions to achieve this solution,” says Sánchez.
