The European Union said on Monday that The situation of the two Spaniards detained in Venezuela “remains worrying” and reiterated the call to the authorities in Caracas to put an end to the arbitrary arrests of Venezuelan opponents and EU citizens.
At a press conference in Brussels, EU foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano described “unfortunate” episode for which José María Basoa Valdovinos and Andrés Martínez Adasme were arrested in Venezuela, for alleged links with the National Intelligence Center (CNI) and for preparing a plot against President Nicolás Maduro, which the Spanish authorities have denied.
“It is regrettable that the Venezuelan regime has arrested citizens of our Member States. This is something that continues to worry us.“, he said, to stress that the work of consular protection is “primarily” the responsibility of the Member States concerned, in this case Spain. In any case, Stano reiterated his call for Caracas to put an end to arbitrary detentions, respect human rights, release political prisoners and ensure the protection of detainees.
The Venezuelan regime accuses the two Spanish citizens, originally from Bilbao, of have links with the CNI and with figures close to the Venezuelan opposition that they would prepare a plan to assassinate Maduro. For its part, the government said that the Spanish consulate in Caracas, the General Directorate of Consulates and the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs remain in “permanent contact” with the families of the two Spaniards detained in Venezuela.
The Foreign Ministry “categorically denied and rejected any insinuation that Spain is involved in an operation of political destabilization in Venezuela” and indicated that the two detained Spaniards are not part of the CNI or any other state organization.
Foreign Affairs is trying to resolve the situation
The Secretary General of the PSE-EE, Eneko Andueza, assured that the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs was developing the ““timely measures” to resolve the situation of the two Basque citizens who are detained in Venezuela.
In an interview with Onda Vasca, the leader of the Basque socialists sent a message of “solidarity and affection to the families and friends” of those arrested, he stressed that he knows that the Foreign Office is taking “the appropriate diplomatic measures to resolve this issue.
“Venezuela is in a complicated situation and we, as a party and government, have demanded at all times that transparency be present so that, of course, the democratic quality in Venezuela is the best possible since there is a certain deficit. It is appropriate that we put all the instruments at our disposal at the service of democratic institutions around the world,” he argued.
