The Diplomat
Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, avoided pronouncing on whether he considers Nicolás Maduro to be a dictator and neither did he clarify whether for Spain he is the legitimate president of Venezuela or the opposition leader Juan Guaidó, head of the National Assembly elected in 2015.
During an interview on Colombian radio station W Radio, and in the absence of a response, the journalist asked him to at least clarify who Spain considers to be the legitimate president of Venezuela, Maduro or Guaidó.
Sánchez, who began his Ibero-American tour in Colombia yesterday, said that this is “a debate” within the international community after Spain and “many” European countries recognised Guaidó as “legitimate president” at the time.
“We now have an institutional duality that has to be resolved”, he added before pointing out that “we advocate that dialogue and that there be democratic re-institutionalisation of Venezuela“, without going into further assessments.
On the other hand, he considered it “good and positive” that the new Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, has decided to re-establish relations with Venezuela, suspended under the presidency of Iván Duque after recognising Guaidó as president.
