Socialist José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, former president of the Spanish government (2004-2011), confirmed this Tuesday (24) that he mediated the negotiation between Madrid and the Venezuelan dictatorship so that opposition member Edmundo González could leave the South American country two weeks ago.
According to information from the newspaper El Debate, Zapatero made brief statements on the subject during the launch of a book he organized, at a cultural center in the Spanish capital.
“I will not make assessments of the positions of some and others because I must preserve this trust [entre as partes]. The only way is to maintain this attitude of discretion, prudence and serenity,” said the former president, who claimed to have participated in the “task of facilitating” González’s departure.
At the scene, Zapatero was greeted with boos by a group of Venezuelans and Spaniards, who held signs and chanted messages such as “traitor” and “accomplice”. [da ditadura chavista]”.
The conservative Popular Party (PP), in opposition to the current president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, a Zapatero supporter, accused the former president and the current Spanish administration of having helped Nicolás Maduro’s dictatorship to “solve a problem”.
The PP also accused the former socialist president of having collaborated in “coercion” for González to leave Venezuela.
González, who was seen by much of the international community and the Venezuelan opposition as the winner of the July 28 presidential election, left the country for political asylum in Spain. He had an arrest warrant issued by the Chavista justice system.
Zapatero has long-standing ties to the Maduro dictatorship – he established contracts with the Hugo Chávez regime when he was head of government in Spain, criticized sanctions imposed on Venezuela, brokered the release of political prisoners to other countries and endorsed Venezuelan electoral processes, acting as an observer, although he did not do the same in the presidential election of July 28, which displeased Chavismo.
Last week, a group of Venezuelan opponents exiled in Spain filed a complaint with the Audiencia Nacional, the European country’s highest court, against Zapatero, accusing him of crimes against humanity and moral integrity and torture for his association with Maduro.
In August, the Spanish conservative union Manos Limpas filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Zapatero, accusing him of crimes against humanity due to his relationship with Maduro and citing alleged business dealings by the former president in Venezuela, such as the concession of a gold mine – which he denies.
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