“It doesn’t make sense.” This is the main and strongest conclusion reached by several CNI agents when asked if the two Spaniards detained in Venezuela could be members of the Center. “They are just two poor children that the Nicolas Maduro regime has taken hostage,” they say.
On Saturday evening, it was announced that Venezuelan authorities had arrested Jose Maria Basoa Valdovinos Already Andrés Martinez Adasmeboth from Bilbao. The Interior Minister and Maduro’s most trusted person, Diosdado Hairannounced at a press conference his arrest, along with that of two Americans and a Czech, and accused them of participating in an operation aimed at committing terrorist acts.
According to Venezuelan authorities, the Spaniards are members of the National Intelligence Center (CNI) and are participating in a kind of plot to physically eliminate Nicolas Maduro now your number two, Delcy Rodriguez.
The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, however, categorically denies that they are agents of the CNI or any other state body. “Spain categorically denies and rejects any insinuation of involvement in an operation of political destabilization in Venezuela,” they say from the organization led by Jose Manuel Albares.
In addition to the official statements, this newspaper consulted several active and retired CNI agents to ask them if the situation of Basoa and Adasme could correspond to the fact that they are Spanish agents. The answer is no.
“The story told by the Venezuelan authorities is ridiculous”“These poor children are going to be hit hard, but two people like that on the loose are not going to do anything to Venezuela,” he adds.
“It’s the same thing that Iran does, the so-called hostage diplomacy. Since Spain bothered Maduro this week, they are giving it back to him in one way or another,” he emphasizes.
The agent refers to the arrival in Madrid of the opposition and candidate for the Venezuelan elections Edmundo González. The Congress of Deputies recognized him as president-elect and, although the PSOE did not participate in this recognition, Spain granted him asylum and the president, Pedro Sánchez, received him at the Moncloa.
Furthermore, the Minister of Defense, Marguerite Roblescalled the Maduro government a “dictatorship,” which greatly worried Caracas. The Foreign Minister, however, did not want to go that far and asked that the electoral record recognize the winner of the Venezuelan elections.
“I don’t think they’re CNI,” another agent said of Basoa and Adasme.This is clearly an exchange, or some kind of pressure measure.“Maduro now has something against Spain, something he didn’t have before, and that’s where it can be located,” he adds.
The intelligence sources consulted point out that there are several striking elements in this story and that is why they believe that they do not belong to the CNI, since it is not theirs. modus operandiThe most obvious is that the family of the detainees asked a few days ago for help in locating them.
The relatives sent a tip to a local Colombian media outlet a few days ago saying that the two were last seen on September 2 in a border town in Colombia and were heading to Venezuela. According to the statement, they arrived in Venezuela in mid-August, rented a car to drive to Colombia and then returned home.
The family explains that they should have returned their rental car and did not, as well as They also did not take the flight back to Madrid.on September 8. In addition, in the announcement, the relatives indicated their personal telephone numbers and the physical characteristics of the two Spaniards.
The CNI sources consulted acknowledge that It is hard to believe that the families of two spies would advertise for them and publish their physical characteristics while they are operating abroad..
Furthermore, Venezuelan authorities claim to have found conversations on their cell phones related to the purchase of weapons and explosives. Nor is it credible that CNI agents could hold conversations of such depth and leave the evidence easily accessible to anyone who captures them.
“This is a tantrum coming from Venezuela”says another agent, in this case retired. “After the United States seized his plane and Spain welcomed Edmundo González, Maduro decided to do the same thing as countries like Iran or Russia: kidnap diplomats or hostages to negotiate,” he adds.
Another active agent points out that in Venezuela, after the elections, Maduro began arresting teenagers, journalists and politicians, accusing any critic of conspiring against the regime. This newspaper has not found any authoritative voice to think that these could be spies. Only Venezuela defends this front.
