Zapatero did not save Edmundo González

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said this Wednesday that The former president of the Spanish government José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero collaborated in the “maneuver of the regime” -in reference to the Executive of Nicolás Maduro- that allowed the exile to Madrid of Edmundo González Urrutia.

“It is not true that (Zapatero) saved Edmundo, he became part, or he operated as part of a regime maneuver against Venezuelans, and this is very serious,” said the liberal during an interview with three local media. (TalCual, El Pitazo and Runrunes), broadcast on YouTube.

He stressed that he was aware of Zapatero’s mediation in this matter, since – he asserted – I had talked about it with González Urrutiawho competed in the presidential elections on July 28, in which Maduro was proclaimed the winner, which the majority opposition – grouped in the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) – describes as fraud.

Machado on the departure of Edmundo González

The former deputy said that the departure of Edmundo González from Venezuela – where Justice had issued an arrest warrant against him – was achieved through “a grotesque, horrible operation, mounted by the regimewith operators inside and outside the country.

“This generated an enormous impact on the morale of Venezuelans and also perplexity among some international actors, and that is what the regime wanted,” he continued.

However, in his opinion, the Maduro government “backfired” after the PUD standard-bearer denounced that he suffered coercion by Chavismo, which Machado called an “unprecedented” event and for which there are “scandalized international actors.”

Zapatero and his position in Venezuela

Zapatero, in his first public act since the Venezuelan elections, reiterated on Tuesday in Spain that his position in the Caribbean country continues to be dialogue and achieving a peaceful solution through consensus, and that task, to be useful -he stressed- ” requires discretion.

Regarding whether he facilitated the entry of the vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, and the head of Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, into the residence of the Spanish ambassador in Caracas, where they met with González Urrutia, the former president limited himself to pointing out that he promoted “the solution that has there has been.