“It is a dictatorial, authoritarian and dictatorial regime.” This is how the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, expressed himself this Sunday on Telecinco, the day after the arrest of five foreigners in Venezuela, including two Spaniards, accused of having participated in “a mercenary operation” to destabilize “the country.
Borrell used that language this Sunday, 48 hours after avoiding the term “dictatorship” during an appearance last Friday in Madrid. “I am not going to comment on the statements of the ministers of a country, no matter how much they are mine,” Borrell responded Friday to questions about statements by Defense Minister Margarita Robles in which she called Venezuela a “dictatorship,” to which Caracas responded by calling for consultations with its ambassador in Madrid.
“I am Spanish and I naturally follow Spanish politics,” Borrell said, “but I don’t think it’s my role to comment on the statements of one person or another. What is clear is that these elections have shown that the democratic quality of Venezuela, which we already knew before, has not improved.”
Last Friday, Borrell remained in the European narrative since the elections of July 28: Nicolás Maduro’s victory is not recognized until the electoral records that verify it are presented, but it is not escalated verbally either and Edmundo González is not recognized as “. president-elect. But this Sunday, after the arrest of five people in Venezuela, including two Spaniards, accused of “destabilizing Venezuela” with “mercenary operations” and of being linked to the Spanish National Intelligence Center, the head of European diplomacy has taken a leap forward. his statements.
“In Venezuela, more than 2,000 people are arbitrarily detained after the elections. The opposition leader had to flee. Political parties are subject to a thousand limitations in their actions. Seven million Venezuelans have fled their country. What do you call all this? Well, naturally, it is a dictatorial, authoritarian and dictatorial regime,” Borrell said. He added: “But saying it doesn’t help. It’s about trying to solve, and sometimes solving problems requires a certain verbal restraint. But let’s not be mistaken about the nature of things. Venezuela called elections, but it wasn’t a democracy before. And even less so after.”
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil Pinto responded to Borrell: “When we say the dump of history, we are referring to the place where Borrell is now, from interview to interview, a spokesperson for evil, a retreat from politics. with his hands stained with blood, has doubly failed in his attempts to harm the Venezuelan people, by inventing fictitious governments (Guaidó 1.0 and 2.0) and, above all, by transforming the European Union into a decrepit, colonialist and warlike institution.
Borrell’s statements come hours after the arrests in Venezuela and the interview with Vice President Diosdado Cabello on Telesur, in which he said: “The United States is leading the operation and Spain was going to provide the foreign mercenaries for these operations. We have been working on the border for days. This is not the first operation carried out against Venezuela, but it is the first time that an active US army has been involved in the operation. [Wilber Joseph Castañeda] “He directly directs the operation.”
According to Cabello, “the CNI (Spanish National Intelligence Center) had mercenaries of French origin ready to take control of the Maiquetía airport. Behind the operation is María Corina Machado, who is arguing with Leopoldo López for control of the operation they call. “liberation of Venezuela”. The Spanish National Intelligence Center is involved, as is the CIA. Among those arrested are Andrés Martínez (Spanish nationality), José Marií Basoa (Spanish nationality), Jhexica Aponte (Venezuelan nationality) and Jan Darmovzal (Czech nationality).
Sources close to the region explain to elDiario.es that “according to what has been published on the entry route to the country [alrededores del aeropuerto de Puerto Ayacucho]These are jungle areas tightly controlled by guerrillas or paramilitaries, very isolated jungle areas, through which one can enter Venezuela without customs control, and someone surely helped them for that. “This is not a usual tourist area, this is a war zone.”
The Spanish government, for its part, has denied that the two Spaniards belong to the CNI. “Spain categorically denies and rejects any suggestion of involvement in a political destabilization operation in Venezuela. The government has confirmed that the detainees are not part of the CNI or any other state organization. “Spain defends a democratic and peaceful solution to the situation in Venezuela,” Foreign Affairs sources said on Sunday.
Official sources from the Foreign Affairs also reported that “the Spanish consulate in Caracas, the General Directorate of Consular Affairs and the minister’s office remain in permanent contact with the families of the detainees.”
As the pressure from the head of European diplomacy towards Venezuela increases, this Tuesday a debate is scheduled in the European Parliament and the vote – on Thursday – of a resolution that includes the recognition of Edmundo González as “legitimate and elected president of Venezuela.”
On this subject, the resolutions that Alberto Núñez Feijóo’s PP presents everywhere – Congress, Senate, European Parliament – Borrell marks the distances: “In international law, what is recognized are the States. The existence of a State is recognized. For example, the State of Kosovo is recognized or not, and some recognize it and others do not recognize it. Venezuela is a recognized State. It sits in the United Nations. “We continue to recognize the State of Venezuela, but we do not recognize the democratic legitimacy of those who claim to have won the elections without proving it.”
“In any case,” Borrell said, “recognition or non-recognition is a national power of the Member States. And as for recognizing or not a president of the government, what is done is recognizing or not the democratic legitimacy of the one who holds power, the territorial control of the army, of the police. And that, in fact, was Maduro before the elections and continues to be Maduro after the elections, but we do not consider him as a person who can claim democratic legitimacy for the power he holds. In any case, unfortunately there is no magic wand on these issues. Recognitions may have a symbolic value, but unfortunately they do not change reality. “These are states that recognize other states and we, the European Union, do not recognize the democratic legitimacy of Maduro.”
“Do everything possible” to get Gonzalez into office
The resolution proposed by the European PP, to which EFE had access, urges member states and the EU to recognize the opposition candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, as the “legitimate and democratically elected president of Venezuela” and to do “everything possible” to ensure that he can take office on January 10, 2025.
The Popular Party also calls on the EU and the 27 to “request an international arrest warrant against Nicolas Maduro for crimes against humanity” and for specific sanctions to be applied to him and to all those responsible for human rights violations in the country.
The Socialists and Democrats (S&D) are working on an alternative text to amend that of the EPP and “together have a solid resolution”, according to the group’s president, Iratxe García, last Thursday. In this sense, the position of the socialists is not to recognize the results of the last Venezuelan elections until Maduro presents “proof” of his election, since the “real figures” indicate that “González Urrutia won the elections” and consider that “now it is time for the EU to step up its action and increase sanctions against the regime”, including against “Maduro himself”.
Meanwhile, from the liberal group of Renew Europe, PNV MEP Oihane Agirregoitia has promoted a resolution in which she calls for Edmundo González to be recognised as the “winner” and denounces the “gravity” of the situation in the country due to the “dictatorship” of Maduro. The deadline for the groups of the European Parliament to present their proposals for resolutions ends on Monday at 7pm local time.
