Spain will not recognize Maduro’s victory without the minutes

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, confirmed on Monday that Spain will not recognize the electoral victory of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela until the minutes of the elections are verified, but he does not plan to admit an opposition victory until then.

Interviewed by radio station SER, he stressed that the government has a very clear position on the situation in Venezuela, which it has avoided considering a dictatorship.

«We will not recognize any election result if the minutes of all the tables are not displayed and can be verified by the opposition and by independent bodies,” the Spanish minister stressed.

He defended the right to freedom of expression and peaceful demonstration for all Venezuelans, and especially for political leaders.

In the event that the minutes are not presented, he assured that There will therefore be no recognition of Maduro’s victory for a new presidential term, especially when election observers’ reports indicate that “there are beginning to be more than doubts” about the official result.

Asked whether the government plans to recognise the victory of the opposition and its candidate Edmundo González, as the Spanish conservative opposition (Popular Party) is demanding, he said that “this is not a contest to see who will do best.”

He recalled that at the time opposition leader Juan Guaidó was recognized as interim president and that did not advance the democratic will.

«Therefore, we have to be very responsible in what we do. And what we have to think about is that it is not about making forceful statements, but about effective statements, effective movements, and, of course, we are not going to recognize an electoral result that is not verified,” he stressed.

Does Spain consider Maduro’s government a dictatorship?

Asked directly about the possibility that he considers the Maduro government a dictatorship, Albares said that a minister He is not fit to be a political scientistbut to achieve objectives, and Spain’s objective is to be able to speak with both the Venezuelan Executive and the opposition.

He said that Venezuelans were able to vote freely on July 28 and the question now is to enforce what they decided.

Regarding the possibility of sanctions being approved, the head of Spanish diplomacy indicated that the Government will consider any measure that could help the democratic will of the Venezuelan people to triumph.

“I don’t rule out anything at all, but what we do want is to not move away from our objective and Our goal is for the solution to be a peaceful and negotiated solution between Venezuelans, “that it is not a violent solution,” Albares added.

He denied that the Spanish government is equidistant or silent, as the opposition accuses it of.

Albares acknowledged the work of former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, which the Government “values ​​and appreciates” and which he carries out “on his own behalf,” according to the minister.

Regarding the Middle East conflict, he called for dialogue to avoid a regional war after the confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah, and insisted that the solution to achieving peace in the region lies in the coexistence of two States, Israel and Palestine.