Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello announced on public television on Saturday the arrest of two Spanish citizens, accused of having links with the CNI, the Spanish intelligence service, who intended to buy weapons and commit assassinations, always according to the story of the number two of the Venezuelan regime and representative of the hardest sector. Moncloa sources denied that those arrested were agents of the National Intelligence Center (CNI), as Cabello claimed, but did not confirm that they were Spanish citizens, something that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is trying to verify.
In a very confusing speech, the minister recounted, in a disorderly and difficult to follow manner, what seemed to be three different plots, without however differentiating or specifying them, or knowing when one begins and the other ends. “Two Spanish citizens were arrested in Puerto Ayacucho. José María Basoa Valdovinos and Andrés Martínez Adasme, near the Puerto Ayacucho airport, in an irregular situation, are taking photos. We found on their phones links to a woman named María Teresa Clavijo, from Aragua, leader of Vente Venezuela, linked to the so-called criminals. commandos [grupos de voluntarios de la oposición encabeza por María Corina Machado, la líder antichavista]. Jorman Enrique Varillas and Jhexica Isabel APonte Figueras [dos nombres más que apuntó Cabello sin aportar mayores detalles]. She participated in the acts of violence, there is a photo of her, hooded, even in a demonstration. The Spaniards ask by phone where to buy explosives, contact if they want to do special work. And on their cell phones, they plan the assassination of a mayor of Upata, a revolutionary mayor,” Cabello said. The television showed the two detainees while the minister spoke. “The United States is not immune to this operation,” he added, linking the country to this alleged coup.
In Madrid, official sources from the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained that “the Spanish Embassy [en Caracas] sent a verbal note to the Venezuelan government requesting access to the detainees, in order to verify their identity and nationality and, if verified, to know exactly what they are accused of and so that they can receive all the necessary assistance. The embassy will ensure at all times the protection and rights of any Spaniard detained in Venezuela,” they added. Miguel Gonzalez.
Cabello, without presenting evidence, also accused the opposition of introducing weapons into Venezuela: “400 rifles entered from the United States and pistols, linked to the opposition. This is just a sample of what was recovered, what was captured in intelligence operations. They tried to enter it through regular channels. The government of Venezuela guarantees peace. There is no reason to be alarmed. “We are doing what is necessary to maintain peace,” he continued during his press conference, surrounded by long weapons.
Relations between Spain and Venezuela are going through a moment of tension, despite the fact that a week ago they negotiated and agreed that the presidential candidate who seems more than likely to win the elections for Chavismo, Edmundo González, would go into exile in Madrid. The Spanish government assured that the opponent had been considered as a politically persecuted person, to whom he gives cover like any other person who had asked for it. Maduro, however, assured that it was a political operation that he was supervising. González met in Madrid with President Pedro Sánchez. In addition, the Spanish Congress voted overwhelmingly in favor of his victory, but the government said it would not do so and that This is in line with the policy of the European Union, which insists that Chavismo show the minutes that reflect the true result of the presidential elections. July 28. Maduro and his people refused to teach anything publicly.
Given the approval of Congress to demand the recognition of González from the government of Pedro Sánchez – which is not binding -; another of the heavyweights of Chavism, Jorge Rodríguez, president of the Venezuelan Assembly, but above all Maduro's number one political operator, He urged Caracas to sever trade and diplomatic relations with Spain. Tempers calmed down in the following days, but the statements of the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, in which she describes the way in which Chavismo governs as a dictatorship, He forced the Chancellor to call his ambassador in Madrid for consultations and to bring the Spanish ambassador to Caracas, Ramón Santos. Santos and Yván Gil seem to have understood each other, since in the hours that followed there were no major statements. Even Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, Jorge's sister and also a high representative of the Chavista leadership, met with the director of Repsol in Venezuela. This announcement of the arrest of two alleged Spanish spies – a claim denied by the Sánchez government – opens a new chapter of discord.
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