Caracas, after statements by Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles about the dictatorship in Venezuela, recalled its ambassador for consultations and summoned the head of the Spanish diplomatic mission to the Foreign Ministry for explanations, Foreign Minister Ivan Gil said in his Telegram channel.
⠀
“The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in connection with the insolent, interventionist and rude statements of the Spanish Minister Margarita Robles, which indicate a deterioration in relations between both countries, has decided to recall for consultations the Ambassador of Venezuela accredited to the Kingdom of Spain, Gladys Gutierrez, and also to summon the Ambassador accredited in Caracas Spain Ramon Santos Martinez on Friday, September 13, at the headquarters of the Ministry of People’s Power for International Relations,” Gil wrote.
⠀
Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles called Nicolas Maduro’s government a dictatorship that has caused mass migration from Venezuela at a public event on Thursday.
⠀
The speaker of the Venezuelan Assembly, Jorge Rodriguez, yesterday called on deputies to pass a resolution on the immediate severance of diplomatic and trade relations with Spain after the kingdom’s congress called on the government to recognize Gonzalez as the elected president.
⠀
Spain’s lower house of parliament approved on Wednesday a non-legislative proposal calling on the kingdom’s government to recognize former opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez as the “legitimate winner” of Venezuela’s presidential election. The initiative was put forward by the main opposition right-wing People’s Party “based on the repeated refusal of Venezuelan electoral authorities to publish voting results in a timely manner and in the proper form” and received the support of 177 of 350 parliamentarians. The ruling Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party, led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, did not support the proposal.
⠀
The Spanish government previously confirmed Gonzalez’s asylum and flew him out of the country on a military plane with permission to leave Caracas safely. The politician arrived at the air base in Madrid, accompanied by his wife and Spanish Secretary of Foreign Affairs Diego Martinez Belio.
⠀
The Venezuelan Prosecutor General’s Office said on September 3 that the Venezuelan Control Court of First Instance issued a detention warrant for Gonzalez, who failed to appear three times when summoned to testify. The department is investigating the publication of opposition data from polling stations on an Internet website in parallel with the election commission’s publication of the official results of the presidential election, as well as incitement to street violence.
⠀
The presidential elections in Venezuela were held on July 28, the next day the national electoral council declared Nicolas Maduro the elected president for 2025-2031, he received, according to the electoral council, 51% of the vote. The next day, protests broke out in Venezuela; in Caracas, clashes began between police and demonstrators, who began throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at law enforcement officers. According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, more than 2 thousand people have been detained in cases of destruction of state infrastructure, incitement of hatred and terrorism. The Venezuelan government has announced interference by a number of countries in the elections and in the people’s right to self-determination.
