The European Commission reacts to the arrest of Europeans

The European Commission said on Monday that the arrest in Venezuela of two Spanish citizens and one Czech citizen is regrettable and that it is following the situation with concern.

“It is regrettable that the Venezuelan regime has arrested European citizens,” said European Commission foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano at the institution’s daily press conference.

The spokesman said that the Commission stands in solidarity with Spain and the Czech Republic, but stressed that both countries have the consular “responsibility” to deal with this situation affecting their nationals, the Spaniards Andrés Martínez Adasme and José María Basoa Valdovinos and the Czech Jan Darmovrzal.

Venezuela also arrested three Americans, all of whom were charged with alleged subversive activities and attempted murder of public officials, including Nicolás Maduro.

Following these accusations, Spain, through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, denied yesterday that it is involved in a “political destabilization operation” in Venezuela and “absolutely rejected any insinuation” in this regard.

The Czech Republic today sent a diplomatic note to Caracas asking for information on Darmovrzal’s arrest.

In this context, Stano reiterated the European Union’s request to the Venezuelan authorities to “respect human rights and put an end to arbitrary detentions, not only of European citizens, but also of opposition members, activists and journalists.”

These statements come after the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, said yesterday in an interview on Spanish television Telecinco that the Maduro regime is “dictatorial” and “authoritarian.”

“Let’s not fool ourselves about the nature of things. Venezuela has called elections, but it was not a democracy before and it is even less so after,” Borrell said.

The head of European diplomacy referred to the departure from the country of Edmundo González, who is in Spain, where he has requested political asylum, and also to the “thousand limitations” to which political parties are subjected or to the fact that “seven million Venezuelans have fled their country.”

“What do you call all this? Well, naturally this is a dictatorial, authoritarian, dictatorial regime,” he stressed..