The Diplomat
The Venezuelan opposition delegation that met on Sunday in Madrid with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, EU and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, called on him not to “normalise” relations with the government of Nicolás Maduro unless there are real “democratic advances”.
Opposition leader Freddy Guevara, head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly elected at the end of 2015, told Europa Press that anyone who wants to defend the current negotiations with Chavism “must not attack it”.
In his opinion, this involves limiting gestures towards Maduro. “If they continue appointing ambassadors, giving them photos, lifting sanctions in exchange for nothing, the dictatorship will be eternalised and we will have a second Cuba”, said Guevara, already from Berlin.
The group has embarked on a European tour with which it hopes that Spain and other countries will take on a “joint strategy” that is also “aligned” with the interests of the opposition. Spain plays a “fundamental role” in this context and, according to Guevara, “any false step is very serious”.
The opposition leader acknowledged that the recent exchange of ambassadors between Caracas and Madrid came up at the meeting held on Sunday at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in which Albares explained the reasons for this gesture.
The appointment of the ambassador “did not go well”, according to Guevara, who affirmed that “any false step is very serious”. He also recalled the landing of vice-president Delcy Rodríguez in Madrid in 2020 to point out that “greater coordination and firmness” is needed.
In addition to Guevara, a member of the Voluntad Popular party, Luis Emilio Rondón, Tomás Guanipa, Mariela Magallanes, Roberto Enríquez, and Luis Aquiles Moreno also attended the meeting with Albares. The main delegate to the dialogue process, Gerardo Blyde, did not attend for reasons “linked to the negotiations”, according to Guevara.
