Spanish – The government of Spain is beginning to expose what had become an open secret: it favors the regime of Nicolás Maduro. It tends to dissociate itself from the interim president of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó.
On Wednesday, February 12, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez began to refer to Guaidó as “the leader of the opposition in Venezuela” and not as the president of the South American country even though he had recognized Guaidó as the interim president for months.
Sánchez ha degradado al presidente Guaidó llamándole líder de la oposición, en vez de cesar a Ábalos por reunirse con una torturadora que tenía prohibida su entrada a la UE, por mentir impunemente y por echar la culpa a la Policía Nacional.https://t.co/Yophwydkjy
— Pablo Casado Blanco (@pablocasado_) February 12, 2020
Sánchez referring to Guaidó in this way, shows how he covers up for Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias, who was the first in that administration to refer to the interim president as an “opposition leader” by demeaning his real position.
Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo, the spokesperson for the PP, accused the Sánchez government of “turning its back on a democrat,” “assuming the language of Chavismo,” and “having no political or moral compass.”
“Mi mensaje al pueblo venezolano:
Por favor no confundan a Sánchez, Iglesias, Zapatero y Abalos con España. A millones de españoles nos conmueve su sufrimiento y nos honra recibir al presidente Guaidó.”Réplica de mi interpelación. https://t.co/kZN30XO01h
— Cayetana Alvarez de Toledo (@cayetanaAT) February 12, 2020
She also attacked Minister José Luis Ábalos for his clandestine nighttime meeting in Barajas with the illegitimate and usurping vice president of the Venezuelan regime, Delcy Rodríguez.
Although Pedro Sánchez was slow to recognize Guaidó as interim president of Venezuela, he had finally aligned himself with the European Union by admitting that Nicolás Maduro was usurping the presidency in the South American country through fraudulent elections.
“I recognize Juan Guaidó as the interim president of Venezuela, with a clear vision: the calling of free, democratic, guaranteed, and non-exclusive presidential elections. I will not take one step back. For freedom, democracy, and harmony in Venezuela,” said the Spanish leader on February 4, 2019.
On February 9, 2020, the same Government of Spain ratified its recognition of Guaidó, assuring that its policy towards Venezuela had not changed. However, the facts suggest the opposite.
While major European leaders recently received Guaidó and recognized him as the interim president of the South American country, Sánchez refused to receive Guaidó and instead sent his foreign minister. Meanwhile, he sent his trusted minister, José Luis Ábalos, to secretly meet with Delcy Rodríguez, who is banned from entering European soil.
Spain has stirred a problem and is avoiding responsibility
Although, to date, the government of Pedro Sánchez has claimed to recognize Guaidó as the president of Venezuela, its actions show that it prefers to ally itself with the regime of Nicolás Maduro.
The Venezuelan dictatorship recently welcomed former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who has become Maduro’s accomplice and seeks to appropriate the role of “mediator” in the South American country.
Although the government of Pedro Sánchez assures that Zapatero’s trip is as a private citizen, this information was contradicted because the former Prime Minister allegedly entered the country with a diplomatic passport and was received by personnel of the Spanish embassy in Venezuela.
On Sunday, February 9, the former Spanish prime minister stated that Venezuela is close to a “dialogue with an agreement and an electoral solution” and warned that the international community “condemns” the country because “it is misinformed.”
Since 2015, when he served as an electoral observer, Zapatero has been linked to Venezuela, going so far as to act as a mediator between Maduro and the opposition in a process where he proved to be a sympathizer of the ruling party.
Both Zapatero’s recent arrival in Venezuela, and Delcy Rodríguez’s trip to Spain, where she violated European Union sanctions, reveal to the international community that Pedro Sánchez’s government is committed to Chavismo.
The Spanish government’s economic ties with Chavismo
A report by the Spanish newspaper ABC revealed that Spain had significant oil imports from Venezuela starting in October 2018, while imports in 2019 have been the highest since 2015, representing a growth of 265 %.
But as if this were not enough, several other actions by the Spanish government reveal its affinity with the regime. For example, Spain allowed former Venezuelan General Hugo “El Pollo” Carvajal to escape, and the United States requested him because of his links to drug trafficking. Because of the relevant information, he has to put an end to Nicolás Maduro’s regime.
Sánchez also named Pablo Iglesias as his Second Deputy Minister. Iglesias was an ally of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro. He was even linked to money laundering and corruption cases in the South American country.
In 2017, the alleged illegal financing of the Spanish Podemos party with money from Iran and Venezuela came to light.
In October 2019, it was revealed that the U.S. government is considering sanctioning Spain for the aid that the socialist Pedro Sánchez has continued to provide to Nicolás Maduro, especially after the possibility that the European country’s central bank will facilitate banking transactions for the Venezuelan dictatorship despite international sanctions.
As if all these signs of support from Spain for Maduro’s dictatorship were not enough, it was also revealed that this European country has allowed hundreds of Venezuelans linked to tyranny to live in its territory and that they have become rich at the expense of the people of Venezuela.
The government of Pedro Sánchez has additionally prevented the European Union from taking stronger action against Maduro while condemning the US sanctions.