Venezuela’s bitter reaction to Spain’s support for Edmundo González

The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, during a ceremony to award military personnel, yesterday in Caracas.

The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, within the framework of a meeting of European ministers to address the conflict between Israel and Palestine

CARACAS (AP).— The Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Yván Gil, warned the Spanish ambassador in Caracas in a meeting yesterday, Friday, that his country will not admit any interference in internal affairs, after tension rose between both countries due to criticism from members of the Spanish government following the controversial presidential elections in Venezuela.

“We will not allow any interventionist action,” Gil said in a statement published on Telegram, a day after the Minister of Defense of Spain, Margarita Robles, described the administration of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela as a “dictatorship.”

The exchange of comments raised tension between both countries and resulted from Spain’s decision to host former presidential candidate Edmundo González as asylum, after the July elections in which President Maduro was declared the winner and which were questioned due to lack of transparency. and independent verification.

Foreign Minister Gil defended that they are matters “of exclusive competence of Venezuelans” in his message, in which he also released images of the meeting he had with the Spanish ambassador, Ramón Santos.

One day before the meeting, Venezuela called its ambassador in Spain, Gladys Gutiérrez, for consultations in response to “the insolent, interfering and rude statements” of the Spanish minister, “which point to a deterioration in relations between both countries.” the chancellor stressed via Telegram.

On Thursday the opponent González, who left Venezuela with a safe passage granted by the Venezuelan authorities and arrived in Madrid last weekend, met with the president of the government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez.

González was received as a sign of “Spain’s humanitarian commitment and solidarity with Venezuelans,” according to a message broadcast on

After the July elections, the Venezuelan opposition and the international community questioned the officially announced results that gave victory to Maduro and recognized Edmundo González as the legitimate winner, according to the voting records that the opposition bloc compiled on election day. .

The Venezuelan authorities issued an arrest warrant against González almost a month later, attributing to him several crimes such as usurpation of the functions of the electoral authority, for the dissemination that the opposition made on a website of the results reports in its possession.

The meeting between Sánchez and González took place a day after the Spanish Congress of Deputies approved a non-binding motion presented by the opposition Popular Party urging the government to recognize González as the elected president of Venezuela. The Spanish executive supports the position of the European Union of demanding that Maduro make public the voting minutes before recognizing the winner of the elections.

The European Parliament will debate the result of Venezuela’s elections in plenary next Tuesday in Strasbourg, France.

The former opposition candidate thanked Spain for its efforts to “recover democracy.”

Pedro Sánchez Meeting

Former candidate Edmundo González met with the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez.

Gratitude

The opponent thanked Spain for its efforts to “recover democracy and respect for human rights” in Venezuela. He reiterated his willingness to “continue the fight to enforce the sovereign will of the Venezuelan people.”

Question of “sovereignty”

Yván Gil, Venezuelan Foreign Minister, indicated yesterday that his country will adopt the necessary measures “to protect its sovereignty.”

González’s presence in Spain strained relations between Madrid and Caracas, to the point that Jorge Rodríguez, president of the Venezuelan Assembly, asked “that all diplomatic relations be immediately broken.”