Popular Party demands that the Spanish government recognise González’s victory in Venezuela

The spokesman for the Popular Party (PP), the main opposition party in Spain, in the Spanish Congress, Miguel Tellado, demanded that the Government recognize Edmundo González as the winner of the elections in Venezuela, and denounced that “it seems” that the President of the Executive, Pedro Sánchez, “prefers left-wing regimes rather than democratic right-wing governments.”

The PP spokesman defended the requests of his parliamentary group for the President of the Government and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, to appear before the chamber and explain Spain’s position, which has not recognised the victory claimed by Nicolás Maduro and has demanded the publication of the electoral records.

Albares confirmed on Monday that Spain will not recognize Nicolás Maduro’s electoral victory in Venezuela until the minutes of the elections are verified, but it does not plan to admit an opposition victory until then.

The lack of sufficient support in the House will prevent, barring a surprise, the requests for the appearance of the president and the minister from going ahead.

Criticism of Zapatero

The conservatives also again attacked former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, from the same party as Sánchez, who participated in the Venezuelan elections as part of the Puebla Group, accusing him of “helping the survival of a criminal dictatorship.”

The Popular Party is asking for “light on the darkness” that, in its opinion, surrounds Zapatero’s relationship with Venezuela, and is demanding to know what his role is, who paid for his trip or why the former socialist president did not sign the Puebla Group’s request for the publication of the minutes.

Once again, the PP asked the government to explain its “lukewarmness” and asked whether this had to do with Zapatero’s economic interests or with the ideological closeness to Maduro.

Results

The PP accuses Maduro of having clung to implausible results and institutions without the necessary independence and impartiality, and sees the victory of the opposition leader, which has been recognised by several countries, including the United States, as proven.

Tellado therefore asked Sánchez to follow the example of Chilean President Gabriel Boric, of whom he said that “being left-wing does not prevent him from calling dictatorships by their name.”

Madrid / EFE