Albares conveys to the Dominican Foreign Minister his “absolute rejection” of the “shameful video” of the PP

Eduardo González The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, has contacted the Dominican Foreign Minister, Roberto Álvarez, to address the diplomatic problem generated with this country as a result of a video of the Popular Party in which the country is described as “the Island of Corruption”. According to the minister, the conflict has been “completely resolved thanks to the Government” and shows that the PP is “absolutely incapable of governing Spain”. The Government has been forced in the last few hours to tackle a possible diplomatic problem with the Dominican Republic as a result of the broadcast of a video of the Popular Party, created with artificial intelligence, in which, to attack the corruption of PSOE leaders, it describes the country as “the Island of Corruption”. The video, thirty seconds long, parodies the Telecinco programme ‘La Isla de las Tentaciones’ (Temptation Island) to attack, among others, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez; his wife, Begoña Gómez; the Secretary of Organisation of the PSOE, Santos Cerdán; the former minister José Luis Ábalos, the Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres; and Víctor de Aldama and Koldo García, the alleged ringleaders of the ‘Koldo case’. At one point, the message “Once La Isla de las Tentaciones is over, the new adventure of La Isla de las Corrupciones begins” appears in the video, along with images of the politicians in question in summer clothes, as well as the map and flag of the Dominican Republic. The parodied programme is filmed, precisely, in this Caribbean country. After the video was broadcast, which went viral, the Dominican Foreign Ministry issued a statement to express “its strongest rejection of the malicious and incomprehensible attack on the Dominican Republic in a video broadcast on a digital platform identified as belonging to the Popular Party of Spain.” “The instrumentalization of the image of the country, denaturing its national symbols, and worse still, for internal matters of Spanish politics, is unacceptable,” it continued. “The Dominican Government has been internationally recognized for its notable advances in strengthening the rule of law and transparency. We regret this gratuitous insult that does not reflect the historic relationship of fraternity between both nations,” it concluded. As a result of this controversy, the PP, led by Alberto Núñez Feijóo, issued a message on the social network X in which it assured that “at no time has it been intended to damage the image of the Dominican Republic, a country with a long tradition of friendship and closeness with Spain.” Likewise, PP deleted the tweet in which the video appeared on Thursday night. In addition, the spokesperson for the Popular Group in Congress, Miguel Tellado, asked this Friday for “sincere apologies to the Government of the Dominican Republic,” but added that “the one who should apologize today is the president of the Government because he has allowed the hard core of his Government to be at the center of serious corruption.” The spokesperson for Vox in Congress, Pepa Rodríguez de Millán, limited herself to writing on the social network X that “it is regrettable to live asking for forgiveness for everything.” Sánchez and Albares For his part, Pedro Sánchez declared on Thursday night in Brussels, during the press conference after the European Council, that he was “extremely ashamed” by this attack on “a friendly country” and asked “the Dominican Republic for forgiveness for this shameful video.” He also warned that “the response must be given by whoever published it.” Likewise, José Manuel Albares declared to the media on Friday, before speaking at a CIDOB event in Barcelona, that he had already contacted the Dominican Foreign Minister, Roberto Álvarez, who conveyed to him his “gratitude for the clear and firm position of the President of the Government towards a sister Republic such as the Dominican Republic and towards a sister people such as the Dominican Republic.” According to Albares, “the Government of Spain categorically rejects these techniques that degrade politics.” The Popular Party, he denounced, “has openly embraced the communication techniques of the extreme right, with insults, with slander, using artificial intelligence.” “Unfortunately,” he continued, “yesterday Mr. Feijóo began a path never seen before by an opposition party,” which could have created a “diplomatic incident” that has been “completely resolved thanks to the words of the President of the Government and the rapid action of the Government of Spain, perfectly understood by the Dominican Government.” “I want to remember that Mr. Feijóo already spoke of a meeting of autocrats when we were meeting precisely at the (Ibero-American) Summit of the Dominican Republic (in 2023), in a delegation then headed by His Majesty the King, and this shows that Mr. Feijóo and the Popular Party are absolutely unfit to govern Spain,” he added. “I have spoken with my Dominican counterpart and good friend, Roberto Álvarez,” Albares later wrote on social media. “I have conveyed to him the enormous fraternal affection that the Spanish people profess to the Dominican people,” he continued. “The PP’s disinformation techniques do not reflect the Spanish feeling towards the sister country of the Dominican Republic,” he concluded. According to diplomatic sources informed The Diplomat, the conversation was “very cordial” and the Dominican foreign minister was “very grateful for the quick and fraternal response” from Spain. For his part, the spokesperson for Justice and Interior of Sumar (minority partner in Pedro Sánchez's coalition government), Enrique Santiago, declared this Friday during a press conference in Congress that the PP video is an "absolute disgrace."

Related Content

The Government of Peru dismisses its ambassador in Spain, who will continue in office until the end of July

The Cervantes Institute will hold its Annual Directors' Meeting in Jerez at the end of July

Albares condemns Russia's latest massive attacks on Ukraine, which left 13 dead

Spanish Consul in Tripoli meets personally with Alicia Armesto, the activist detained in Libya

Spain rejects military escalation in southern Lebanon and demands respect for the ceasefire