Eduardo González
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, has assured this Wednesday that the two Spaniards detained in Venezuela on charges of attempting to assassinate President Nicolás Maduro are “in good health” and has again asked the Venezuelan authorities to allow the “immediate” return to Euskadi of these two “unjustly detained” citizens.
In statements to the program ‘En Jake’, on ETB2, Albares indicated that Foreign Affairs is aware of the charges against the Basque citizens José María Basoa Valdovinos and Andrés Martínez Adasme and that he knows that they are “in good health”. “I want to reassure their friends and their families,” continued Albares, who assured that the Ministry is in contact with both of them and that he himself has been able to speak “on occasion” with their relatives.
“I have spoken about this issue with the Venezuelan foreign minister (Yván Gil) on several occasions and I have sent him a letter and several verbal notes requesting and explaining to him that we exercise all consular protection and all diplomatic protection over these two Spanish citizens,” he continued.
The minister has also warned his counterpart, he added, that “we want them back in Euskadi with their families, where they should have been for a long time, immediately.” “Of course, we are not going to give up on this effort, because they are two citizens who are currently unjustly detained in Venezuela,” he concluded.
José María Basoa Valdovinos and Andrés Martínez Adasme were arrested near the border with Colombia under the accusation of being linked to an opposition plan to assassinate Maduro and other leaders of the regime. The Government of Caracas has assured that both belong to the Spanish Intelligence Services (CNI), but the Spanish Executive has repeatedly denied their membership in any State body. The newspaper ‘El Mundo’ recently published that both are being held in the Rodeo 1 prison, known for its poor prison conditions.
