The Diplomat
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has lashed out against the PP in recent hours, calling its leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo a “thief linked to drug trafficking”, after he participated on Saturday afternoon in a rally held in Puerta del Sol in Madrid in support of Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia.
González appeared in public for the first time at that rally, after having gone into exile in Spain, after Maduro did not recognize his victory in the elections held on July 28. Feijóo and the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, could be seen next to him.
After the rally, Maduro gave a speech at an event held in the northern state of La Guaira to celebrate what he considers his re-election two months ago, which has not been recognized by most countries.
In that speech, the Venezuelan president said that the Madrid event “was organized by the PP, the Francoist party in Spain.” He added: “There was a Falangist called Isabel Ayuso, something like the mayor of Madrid. A colonialist fascist, one of the worst in Spain. There was that Feijoo, a thief linked to drug trafficking in Galicia.”
In addition, Maduro attacked Edmundo González, whom he described as an “old vagabond” and a “coward.” “And he doesn’t even speak to the people. The vampire Antonio Ledezma had to come and read a speech supposedly written by the old coward. That is the truth, those are the people who intended to lead this country,” he stressed.
Maduro also attacked González for displaying a seven-star Venezuelan flag at the Madrid demonstration. “Whoever displays a seven-star flag offends the honour and dignity of all Venezuelans,” he said.
The Community of Madrid responded by stating that these attacks are not surprising coming from “a dictator.” “Well, one more,” said the Minister of Environment, Agriculture and Interior, Carlos Novillo, downplaying the question. The Community highlighted the “demonstration of freedom in Spain” that was the concentration at Puerta del Sol in which it was shown that “the Spanish support the Venezuelan people in exile and those who are having such a hard time there.” “That is what must sting this man, right? We are not going to forget or remain silent,” Novillo stressed.