The former advisor to Jose Luis AbalosKoldo García, managed with the Ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs the visit in January 2020 of Delcy Rodriguez, then vice-president of Venezuela and right-hand man of Nicolas Maduro. This is revealed by the messages exchanged between Minister Marlaska’s number 2 and Koldo García himself a few hours before his arrival, messages included in the summary of the case investigated by the fraudulent business scheme who put former minister Ábalos on the ropes, on the verge of indictment.
The documents reveal how the Interior wanted to grant deferential treatment to Rodríguez, as to any foreign authority that visits our country. This shows that until the last moment the government did not understand that it could not enter Spain. The Venezuelan vice president landed at Barajas airport despite his pEntry into the Schengen area prohibited since 2017 due to European sanctions against the Maduro regime. The controversial visit shook the government in January 2020 and was dubbed “Delcygate”, even though Interior has always maintained that Rodríguez did not set foot on Spanish (or European) soil. Courts later dismissed the visit as a crime.
Specifically, one of the conversations recounts how Koldo García informed the number 2 of the Ministry of the Interior, Rafael Pérez, of the plane in which he was going to arrive. Delcy Rodriguezand the address where you were going to stay. The conversation took place a few hours before Rodríguez’s arrival: “I have already spoken with José Antonio, our director of the Office of Coordination and Studies to put him on hold until the foreign communication reaches them”, begins the conversation on behalf of Rafael Pérez. “In any case, send me the data you have here,” he adds.
Therefore, Koldo tells the details of the arrival of the Venezuelan vice-president, a photo of the plane and the direction and details about the exclusive neighborhood of Madrid where he was going to stay: “The March family and Florentino Pérez live in a security zone” or “it’s a chalet”. In addition, Koldo added, “he will have to enter through the authorities.” After this information, Pérez notes a brief “receipt”.
The Interior Ministry has always maintained that the visit was canceled when it became known that he could not enter Spain.
“Tell number 1…”
The summary court files also indicate the colleague of the director of the plot, Victor de Aldama –currently in prison for VAT fraud on gasoline-, with Nicolás Maduro’s number two, with whom he commented on an interview with Ábalos in laSexta once the controversy arose because of his visit.
In this interview, Ábalos lied to journalist Ana Pastor by claiming that the visit was unprepared and essentially asserting that he had been informed by the Interior to ensure that Rodríguez did not enter the country, when his main advisor, Koldo García, clearly indicated that the trip was prepared.
The closeness between the organizer of the plot and the Venezuelan vice president at the time is seen in the way he relays the content of the interview and tries to say that everything was fine: “Don’t worry, everything will turn out . well, he’s already at this point, there’s no going back, the only thing he told me to take care of him, I told him that’s it,” Aldama said.
Aldama tells Rodríguez that Ábalos is coming out of the interview well and even mentions that he intends to address Nicolás Maduro – calling him “the 1” -: “Tell the 1 that he made what he wanted in record time and it’s thanks to you because “I’m going to tell him”
The summary also includes informal conversations between Aldama and Delcy, commenting on, among other issues, current international politics days before his visit.
