PP hardens attacks on Venezuela as party voices privately advocate end to escalation | Spain

“Between the government and the opposition, we are at war. And in war, there are collateral victims: moderation is one of them,” reflects a PP veteran about the context in which the latest internal battle on a foreign policy issue is taking place, the crisis in Venezuela. “There is no truce on both sides, all bridges are broken, there is no dialogue and Feijóo has assumed the confrontation as his own,” says this popular leader, who thus explains why the PP leadership has launched an attack on the government of Pedro Sánchez for its role. in the political conflict that the Latin American country is going through, with Nicolas Maduro firmly entrenched in power after elections whose results are contested by the majority of Western states. Although Spain has granted asylum and refuge to the opposition candidate, Edmundo González, the PP accuses the Sánchez government of “putting pressure on Chavista criminals.” and asks him to revoke the Spanish ambassador in Caracas. The Popular Party has no intention of slowing down its offensive against the Venezuelan Executive, although privately, some party voices are betting on a more nuanced position and on the “immediate exit” from this escalation.

The same day that Edmundo González met Pedro Sánchez in La Moncloa, the PP accused the president of the government of “paying homage to the Maduro regime”, as Noelia Núñez, deputy secretary for Mobilization and Digital Challenge, stated. And just 24 hours after this reception of the opposition leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo criticized Pedro Sánchez for “not defending democracy in Venezuela” and urged him to recognize the opposition candidate as president-elect. “Unfortunately, the government has ignored not only the electoral result in Venezuela, but also the mandate of Congress”, Feijóo lamented, referring to Wednesday's vote in which the Lower House, at the initiative of the PP, requested the recognition of the opposition candidate.

Génova also considered that the vice-secretary for international affairs of the PP, Esteban González Pons, defended an even more critical position. and demanded that Spain withdraw its ambassador from Caracas. “It seems incredible that this government would withdraw [el pasado mayo] to the ambassador in Argentina, which is a democracy, and yet keep the one in Venezuela which, even if Sánchez does not see it, is a dictatorship,” González Pons stressed this Friday.

The deputy secretary for international affairs and MEP had already launched a message at the beginning of the week that was widely commented on internally within the PP. When it was learned that Edmundo González was going to be granted asylum in Spain, the popular leader wrote on his social networks that it was necessary to remember that the opposition leader María Corina Machado “continues to the end [en Venezuela]”He does not sell himself or surrender to the dictatorship,” which could be understood as a criticism of the opposition presidential candidate. Popular leaders criticize this message from González Pons as a “waste” and regret that Génova then stopped “measuring the message.” “We must now get out of this Venezuelan issue,” says a member of the popular leadership. In other sectors of the party, in past stages, there is also a commitment to a more nuanced and thoughtful position on international politics, but this is not the thesis of Feijóo's cabinet.

“The position is very tough because it is a way of putting the government in an uncomfortable position, because it has to find a balance with its partners,” says another PP leader, since Sumar does not agree with the recognition of González as president-elect of Venezuela. “The only risk is that Spanish companies start complaining about the consequences of the diplomatic crisis, but as an opposition you can afford it,” explains this PP member. The Executive accused the PP of fueling the confrontation by endangering the interests of Spanish companies in Venezuela, but Caracas finally summoned the Spanish ambassador to consultations due to statements by Defense Minister Margarita Robles, calling it a “dictatorship” to the Maduro regime.

Despite internal voices demanding an end to the escalation, the PP will intensify its actions next week to keep the Venezuelan crisis at the forefront and use it to hit the government. The popular will use their absolute majority in the Senate to urge the government to seek to bring Maduro before the International Criminal Courtwhile the European People's Group will impose the debate in the Community Parliament of an even harsher motion, which urges EU countries to request an international arrest warrant against the Venezuelan president “for crimes against humanity for all the serious violations of human rights that he has committed”. has committed. “If the European PP is on the same line as us, why are we going to qualify?” argue other popular leaders who validate the thesis of Genoa, while admitting that this issue “is not decisive for obtaining electoral results”. Feijóo has not yet reached the corollary of his political position with an image with Edmundo González. While the PP leader was traveling to Greece, former president Mariano Rajoy preceded him this Friday as the first member of the PP to meet the opposition candidate exiled in Spain.