The government and the PSOE argue that Víctor de Aldama’s statement, implicating a large part of the Executive and the party in the corruption plot, is insulting and based on lies. Everything except that which refers to Jose Luis Abalos and his right hand, Koldo Garciawhich they not only do not deny, but which they implicitly admit.
This is what he himself said Pedro Sanchez when he spoke Thursday of the “current government” as clean of corruption; He did it this Friday by announcing a complaint of six named by Aldama, excluding Ábalos and, of course, the PSOE did it months ago when it expelled the former minister and number two of the party and made it go to the Joint Congressional Group. .
In other words, the government and the PSOE assume that this corrupt plot did indeed exist within the Executive and the party, with Sánchez’s right-hand man at its head. And for months, they have been trying to establish a sanitary cordon that begins and ends in Ábalosperpetrated this corruption. He also recognized the existence of the plot, focusing it on Ábalos with an “active role”, the audit carried out at the Ministry of Transport at the request of Oscar Puente.
Prosecutors say Aldama was at the height of this corruption and considered his statement on Thursday sufficient to facilitate his release.
The problem for the government is that with this strategy it admits the existence of the conspiracy and therefore assumes political responsibility for its existence.
Ábalos served as a minister until he was unexpectedly dismissed by Sánchez in July 2021, but he was retained as a deputy and was included in the Congress lists in 2023.
And, furthermore, Aldama’s statement attracts land around Ábalos and Koldo García integrated into the administrationwith access to several ministries, with participation in state affairs such as those related to Venezuela and, in any case, taking advantage of the privileged situation of Ábalos as number two of the PSOE and Sánchez’s right-hand man also within the government.
In the history of democracy, there have been people convicted of corruption despite having been ministers, but this would be the case. this is the first time that a minister has been prosecuted for acts of corruption committed within the government. The only similar precedent, but with many differences, would be that of the ministers of Felipe Gonzalez accused of irregular use of reserved funds from the Ministry of the Interior.
Documentary support
Among the conspiracy activities that Aldama speaks of, what refers to the entry into Spain of the Venezuelan vice president is significant, Delcy Rodriguez. Although it is a matter of state over which even Ábalos has no power, the commissioner relates in his statement that he and the former minister worked actively to ensure that the visit took place.
This part of the statement is supported by documents a letter of invitation from Ábaloswhich was reported in the UCO report, in which he invited Delcy Rodríguez to this visit.
It is also supported by the messages in which Ábalos informed Sánchez that such a visit was going to take place and the President of the Government recognized it with a laconic “good”, without objecting to the Minister of Transport making a such approach.
He has support in what happened in Barajas that night, thanks to the presence of the then Minister of Transport, although he has no power in the matter, and of Aldama himself. even. And finally, he is politically supported by the different versions that the government has given since then, including Sánchez himself.
In Aldama’s description of the conspiracy’s activities regarding Ábalos, he always speaks of Koldo Garciahis personal advisor, as the person who made the arrangements on behalf of the minister at the time and number two of the PSOE.
“Everyone knew that any call from Koldo was supported by Ábalos. If this was not the case, because a minister or the president of an entity had doubts, he would call Mr. Ábalos and Mr Ábalos approved Mr Koldo’s second proposal“, explains Aldama in his statement.
This version coincides with that of different senior officials or regional presidents who admitted to having received these calls from Koldo García to, for example, allocate masks to the Aldama company.
The commission agent also details the payments to Ábalos, directly cash or buy a chalet for the former minister’s vacation and pay the rent for a luxury apartment for his then partner.
“Direct meeting”
All this happened with Ábalos as Sánchez’s right-hand man in the government and the PSOE. In fact, Aldama recounts the insistence and reiteration with which the President of the Government addressed Ábalos every day. Sánchez’s official version now is that he was unaware of all this activity with his right hand, but without defending it.
It should be remembered that different media, including The countrypublished that they had caused a scandal in the PSOE the disproportionate expense reports that Ábalos presentedthen responsible for the party organization. Neither Sánchez nor the spokesperson for the PSOE leadership wanted to confirm or deny that they were aware of these facts.
“Mr. Ábalos He received five or six calls from the President of the Government every day. He was everything to him, he was everything, he was campaign manager, he was secretary of the Organization, he was the minister of the most important ministry in this country… he was his consultant, so to speak. Obviously. Furthermore, no one hides me during meetings,” assured Aldama when questioned by his lawyer.
The socialist leader actually ordered the dismissal of Ábalos last February for his political responsibility, because his right-hand man (Koldo García) had been arrested for corruption.
Aldama explains in his statement how he paid Ábalos and Koldo García, sometimes in Dominican Republicthrough the latter’s brother, or even in the minister’s office, to which the commissioner had free access.
“Koldo always shared with Ábalos everything that was given to him” explains Aldama, describing a well-oiled operating system.
Aldama also speaks in his statement about his participation in the rescue efforts Globaliadue to the effects of the pandemic. “I had a direct appointment with Ms. Calviño for the rescue and with Javier Hidalgo. There I had a direct meeting at the Ministry of Economy and with Mr. Ábalos. Then there was a video conference with Ms. Montero, with whom I was also present, but it was a video conference, it was not a face-to-face meeting,” he says.
Concerning this rescue, the Government already declared months ago, regarding the case of Begoña Gomezwife of Sánchez, that this operation was approved by European authorities and that it was similar to others in the States of European Unionwithout any preferential treatment.
