The Spanish Government celebrates the release of five Spaniards in Venezuela

Eduardo González The Spanish Government celebrated on Thursday, January 8, the release of five Spaniards in Venezuela, including José María Basoa Valdovinos and Andrés Martínez Adasme, who were detained in September 2024 on charges of being agents of the National Intelligence Center (CNI). “Spain, which maintains fraternal relations with the Venezuelan people, welcomes this decision as a positive step in the new stage that Venezuela is entering,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in a press release. The five Spaniards, one of whom holds dual nationality, “are preparing to travel to Spain with the assistance of our embassy in Caracas,” the Ministry continued. “The Spanish Government extends its joy to these citizens, their families, and friends,” the statement added, specifying that Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares “has been able to speak with all of them personally.” “The information I have been following throughout the day is that these releases are taking place, as announced by the President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez,” Albares himself declared hours earlier to La2, the Spanish television channel. “With all due caution,” he clarified, “among those released” are Spanish citizens. If confirmed, he added, it would be “a very positive step by the new interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, in this new phase for Venezuela” following the overthrow and kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro by US forces. “We celebrate the release of the Spaniards who have been detained in Venezuela for more than a year,” wrote Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on social media. “It is an act of justice and a necessary step to promote dialogue and reconciliation among Venezuelans,” he added. “I thank the Spanish Embassy in Venezuela and all those who contributed to making this possible,” Albares also stated via social media. The president of Venezuela's National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez (brother of Delcy Rodríguez), announced this Thursday the release of a "significant number of people, both Venezuelan and foreign," with the aim of "contributing and collaborating" in favor of "national unity and peaceful coexistence" and "to strengthen his unwavering commitment to consolidating peace in the Republic and peaceful coexistence" for all, without distinction of ideology or religion. In the same address, Jorge Rodríguez thanked those who "have always stood by the people of Venezuela to defend the right to a full life, to self-determination, to independence, and to peace," with special mention of former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and the government of Qatar. José María Basoa Valdovinos and Andrés Martínez Adasme were arrested near the Colombian border on charges of involvement in an opposition plot to assassinate Maduro and other regime leaders. The Venezuelan government has claimed that both men belong to the Spanish National Intelligence Center (CNI), but the Spanish government has repeatedly denied their affiliation with any state agency. Two others of those released had also been arrested for “suspicious” activities and were in pretrial detention, and the fifth person released is a woman with dual nationality, Rocío San Miguel, president of an activist organization that monitors the armed forces in Venezuela.

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