Spain has unequivocally dismissed Venezuela’s allegations that two Spanish citizens arrested in the South American nation over the weekend were implicated in a global conspiracy to assassinate President Nicolás Maduro, leading to escalating diplomatic tensions between the two countries. In addition, Venezuelan authorities took into custody three US citizens and a Czech national over the weekend, according to Venezuela’s interior minister, Diosdado Cabello.
The detained Spanish individuals, identified as José María Basoa and Andrés Martínez Adasme, were apprehended in the western part of Venezuela close to the border with Colombia on Saturday. Mr. Cabello claimed the duo had admitted to a scheme orchestrated by Spain’s CNI intelligence agency – with the involvement of the CIA – which was designed to “spearhead the recruitment of terrorists to enter Venezuela”, with the ultimate objective, he stated, of assassinating President Maduro, Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez and several other political figures.
In contradiction to these claims, Spain’s foreign ministry confirmed that the two Spanish nationals in detention had no association with either intelligence agencies or any other official department of the Spanish state. The ministry reasserted Spain’s denial and repudiation of any insinuations of its engagement in Venezuelan political manoeuvres. The families of the arrested men, both residents of Bilbao, a northern Spanish city, have maintained that their kin were vacationing in Venezuela.
The US State Department also gave a statement, unequivocally rejecting any suggestion of US involvement in a scheme to topple Maduro as “utterly fallacious”.
Recent arrests have stirred up tensions between Venezuela and Spain. Opposition politician Edmundo González, who is deemed by his supporters to have bested Maduro in a July election, reached Madrid on September 8th, appealing for asylum. Following the contested election – which Maduro insists he won in the face of widespread international disapproval – Gonzalez went into hiding in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas. Spain maintains a strong bond with Venezuela and just last week, the Spanish Congress approved an opposition request encouraging the left-wing coalition led by Pedro Sánchez to acknowledge Mr. Gonzalez as the President-elect of Venezuela.
Despite not recognising Mr Maduro’s victory in the elections, Spain is adhering to the stance of the European Union, which is requesting access to voting records before legitimising his adversary as the prevailing party. This parliamentary decision sparked outrage from Jorge Rodríguez, the head of Venezuela’s national assembly, who demanded that all trade and diplomatic relations with Spain be severed.
The situation heightened when Margarita Robles, the defence minister of Spain, labeled the Maduro regime as a “dictatorship”. In retaliation, Caracas summoned the Spanish ambassador for a scolding and called back Venezuela’s ambassador in Madrid for discussions.
On Monday, the Prime Minister of Spain once again urged the Venezuelan government to “disclose voting documents and allow a neutral and independent examination of the outcomes of the recent election”, a requirement he stated was in agreement with “the majority of Western nations and with the fellow members of the European Union”.