The Diplomat
The leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, asks the head of the Executive, Pedro Sánchez, if his silence on the elections held in Venezuela is due to the “commitments” of the former president of the Government José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero with the “regime of Nicolás Maduro”.
In an interview with Europa Press, after undergoing a retinal detachment operation this summer, Núñez Feijó considers that the opposition led by Edmundo González was the one who won the elections and points out that “the logical thing is to demand that the decision of the Venezuelan people be respected”.
The popular leader rejects the decision of the Supreme Court to declare Nicolás Maduro the winner, because it is an organ “controlled” by Chavismo. And after pointing out that he has spoken on three occasions in recent weeks with the opposition leader María Corina Machado, he is convinced that “fraud” has been committed in Venezuela and stresses that “the minutes that the Venezuelan opposition has made available to international organisations prove” that Maduro “lost the elections”.
Nuñez Feijóo adds that “the logical thing is to demand that the decision of the Venezuelan people be respected” and affirms that “the Government of Spain should lead this position in the European Union in defence of democracy in Venezuela”. The Spanish Government has indicated that it will not recognise Maduro’s re-election until the minutes of the elections are published “in an integral and verifiable manner”.
However, the leader of the PP states that the Government “has neither a proposal, nor leadership, nor criteria in this matter” and says that “all Spaniards are beginning to wonder why”. “Could it be because former President Zapatero has commitments to the Maduro regime? “Is it because of what was in those suitcases of the Venezuelan vice president that the members of the Government went to pick up at Barajas airport?” he asks, referring to the meeting in January 2023 of the Venezuelan vice president Delcy Rodríguez with the then minister José Luis Ábalos.
In his opinion, Sánchez’s Executive is making an “international fool of itself” when even left-wing leaders in South America were the first to “ask for the real minutes of the elections to be accredited.”
The president of the PP criticizes the Sánchez Government for calling itself “progressive” and remaining silent about what is happening in Venezuela. “Is it progressive that the Maduro regime is persecuting dissidents? Is it progressive not to submit to the scrutiny of international organizations that prove that there was fraud in those elections?” he asks.
After highlighting that his party “is clear” while Sánchez’s Executive “is silent”, he affirms: “The Government consents to Mr. Maduro persecuting political dissidents, not respecting human rights and not accepting the result of the polls”.
Feijóo recalls that the Popular Group has presented an initiative for Congress to vote in September on the recognition of the opposition victory in Venezuela and “respect the democratic result of the polls”, a vote in which they will “all take a position”.
