The Senate, with the support of Vox and Junts – the PNV did not participate in the vote – approved urge the government to recognize Edmundo González as president of Venezuela and promote before the International Criminal Court an arrest warrant against Nicolas Maduro and other “suspects” of crimes against humanity.
This went through a motion promoted by the PPwith an absolute majority in the House, which came just a week after Congress also urged the government to recognize Edmundo González as the legitimate winner of the elections thanks to the PNV’s key support for the popular group’s non-law proposal.
A support that, this time, the Basque nationalists did not give by not participating in the vote. Its senator Luis Uribe-Etxebarria maintained on the platform that he wanted “a peaceful transition with guarantees for all” in this Latin American country, criticizing the “characterization” of the Executive by the PP.
In defense of this initiative, the popular senator José Antonio Monago accused the government of “complicity” with the regime of Nicolas Maduro and “look the other way” by hiding behind the electoral registers so as not to recognize the victory of González Urrutia, while waiting for him to obtain political asylum in Spain, in the elections of July 28.
He also denounced the “shameful” role of the former president. José Luis Rodriguez Zapaterowho “is not a mediator”, but what he does is “facilitate Maduro’s dictatorship”, disqualifications that have been constant among those who have intervened from the right bench.
Four amendments were presented to the text, of which the PP rejected two (PSOE and Vox) and accepted those presented by the Agrupación Herreña Independiente (AHI) and the Agrupación Socialista de La Gomera (ASG), thus obtaining their favorable vote.
The amendment of the Agrupación Herreña Independiente, defended by Aniceto Armas, emphasizes Release of two Spanish prisoners in Venezuelaaccused of belonging to the CNI and of having prepared an attack against Nicolas Maduro. The senator demanded that the PP and the PSOE “approve the best plan for Venezuela and not for their parties.”
While the one registered by the senator of the Socialist Group of La Gomera, Fabián Chinea, demands the necessary institutional support so that the organizations and autonomous communities that work in Venezuela can carry out their work of solidarity with the population of Spanish origin. In the podium, he assured that he considers the position of the PP compatible with Maduro’s request for electoral documents.
The PP also had the support of Junts – they were not present at the Congress vote because it coincided with the Diada -, which took the opportunity to attack the PSOE for “its great speeches in favor of democracy” while Carles Puigdemont “The most Francoist soul of the Spanish State is condemned to exile,” stressed Eduardo Pujol.
On behalf of the groups whose amendments were rejected, Paloma Gómez Enríquez (Vox) insisted on discrediting Zapatero’s work as mediator, accusing him of “whitewashing the Maduro regime and being” the director of the Chavista government.
And from the PSOE, Rafael Lemus accused the PP of not being loyal to the government or the European Union, and asked if they were so concerned about dictatorships, how come they Alberto Núñez Feijóo during his visit to Cuba by Raúl Castro He did not meet with the opposition or speak about human rights during his trip to China.
ERC also positioned itself against the motion, whose representative, Sara Bailac, said that the sovereignty of the people is always defended, “above all and everywhere, for Venezuela and also for Catalonia.”
EH Bildu Senator Idurre Beriguren also demanded the election results, but objected to the Congress and Senate “dictating who is the president of Venezuela.”
For Uxue Barkos (Geroa Bai), it is clear that “the Maduro regime is not a democracy”, but Edmundo González cannot be recognized “in this situation of absence of minutes.”
Listening to the debate, opposition leader Leopoldo López, his father and his wife, Lilian Tintori, were in the guest gallery.
