Spain does not know the charges against the two detainees in Venezuela for participating “in a mercenary operation aimed at destabilizing” the country, the country’s vice president, Diosdado Cabello, said on Saturday, announcing the arrest of five foreigners, both of whom are Spanish.
“The Foreign Ministry continues to demand official and verified information from the Venezuelan authorities on the detention of two Spaniards, as well as clarifications on the accusations against them,” explain the official sources, who add: “The Spanish Embassy in Caracas is in contact with the Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to which it has informed that it will exercise diplomatic and consular protection for its nationals. We will keep the families informed promptly.”
The Venezuelan government linked the two Spaniards to the CNI, which it also denied: “Spain categorically denies and rejects any insinuation that it is involved in a political destabilization operation in Venezuela. The government 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.”
The Spanish government’s announcement on Monday comes 24 hours after the EU increased pressure on Nicolas Maduro’s government, to the point of describing it as “dictatorial” by the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell.
“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 this Sunday. 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.”
Meeting with Aznar
The president of the Faes Foundation, José María Aznar, met this Monday with the Venezuelan opposition leader exiled in Spain, Edmundo González. He is the third political leader interviewed by the presidential candidate of this Latin American country, who requested asylum after the Venezuelan prosecutor’s office issued an arrest warrant against him. González met last week with the president of the government, Pedro Sánchez, and his predecessor in power, Mariano Rajoy, reports Aitor Riveiro.
In a statement sent by Faes to the media, the former president of the government asked to “remember that Edmundo González won the elections; that Edmundo González is the elected president of Venezuela and that the international community cannot consent to the deterioration of democracy in this country. “We must all work so that the exile of Edmundo González ends as soon as possible and that he can exercise the presidency of a Venezuela in peace and freedom,” he added.
Edmundo González will meet this Tuesday with the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo; the same day that a resolution calling for the recognition of González Urrutia as “president-elect” is being debated in the European Parliament.
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 that specific sanctions be applied to him and to all those responsible for human rights violations in the country.”
