<h6><strong>The Diplomat</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The leader of the People's Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has accused former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero of having traveled to Venezuela “for several years, once or twice a month,” to act as an “intermediary between the Venezuelan dictatorship and the Spanish government” while “turning a blind eye” to political prisoners.</strong></h4> “Between Maduro being in Venezuela or him being captured and brought before a judge, I undoubtedly support the latter,” Feijóo declared this Wednesday, January 14, on the ‘Ana Rosa Program’ on Telecinco. “We have clearly stated that Edmundo González must be recognized as the elected president of Venezuela,” he continued. “Today, Venezuela has more hope than before, because we have made progress, although we are not yet in the perfect situation until the political prisoners are released and the Maduro regime ends,” he warned. “The interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, is not the future of Venezuela, and democratic elections must be held,” he added. Likewise, the PP leader again lashed out at Zapatero. “What is Mr. Zapatero doing going to Venezuela once or twice a month for several years? What is he doing meeting directly with Mr. Maduro and acting as the intermediary between the Venezuelan dictatorship and the Spanish government?” he asked, while “looking the other way” about the political prisoners. “We will know what Mr. Zapatero has done in Venezuela someday, but there are a number of indications that worry us greatly,” he continued. “The final question is whether or not he acted as an intermediary in the €53 million ransom payment for an aircraft owned by a Venezuelan company,” he added, referring to a complaint filed by the far-right organization Hazte Oír with the National Court, alleging that the former president pressured the Spanish Ministry of Transport to secure a bailout for the Venezuelan airline Plus Ultra using public funds. The National Court is continuing its investigation, and Zapatero could be summoned as a witness. This past Monday, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez praised “the work that José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is doing” “for the release of political prisoners,” and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, insisted the following day that the former Prime Minister is not acting in Venezuela “neither on behalf of nor at the request of the Spanish government; he has been acting since 2015 at the request of the opposition.” Alberto Núñez Feijóo accused Sánchez and Zapatero this past Sunday of complicity with the Venezuelan regime of Nicolás Maduro and warned that "history will not forgive them, history will judge them."
