The controversy in Spain over the apparent change of position of Pedro Sánchez with respect to Venezuela - he has gone from recognizing Juan Guaidó as "president in charge" to qualify him as "chief of the opposition" - coincides with the signals issued in recent weeks since the Trump Administration, that the crisis in the South American country is once again at the top of the list of priorities of the United States. In Washington, recent movements in Madrid have caused "discouragement", "disappointment" and, above all, confusion.
During his visit to the US capital, at the end of an international tour that his team celebrates as a diplomatic success, Juan Guaidó held a long meeting with President Trump and his advisors at the White House. On February 4, he was applauded by lawmakers on both sides of Congress as a guest star at the State of the Union address. The conviction in the Guaidó team - whom the United States and another fifty countries, including Spain, recognize as the president in charge of Venezuela - is clear: “There will be actions in the coming days or weeks to increase the pressure on the regime of Maduro, ”he says, in an interview with EL PAÍS, the ambassador of Guaidó in Washington, Carlos Vecchio.
MORE INFORMATION
- Juan Guaidó: "We will not participate in any electoral farce"
- Maduro asks Spain and “other friendly countries” to mediate for dialogue in Venezuela
- The representative of Guaidó officially asks Foreign if he has changed his position on Venezuela
- González Laya believes that Guaidó "is two things at once": president in charge and leader of the opposition
The representative of Guaidó explains that, in these days of conversations with members of the US Administration, he has noted the "concern" for what they consider an insufficient involvement of Europe, and even misunderstanding about the lack of leadership in Madrid. "For obvious reasons, everyone expects Spain to lead this process," says Vecchio.
The official reaction in Washington to what happened in Spain, which has coincided with the announcement of the visit of the State of the Kings to the country, has been cautious and low profile. The Department of State has not wanted to deepen more for THE COUNTRY in how it has seated the turn of Madrid, and refers to the handful of occasions in which, in the last weeks, positions of the Administration have referred to the subject. On February 7, at a press conference, the US representative for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, said that the "visit to Madrid" by Maduro's vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, "seems like a violation of European sanctions." "We do not understand one hundred percent what happened," he acknowledged. "And what we have seen in the newspapers has changed every day."
The meeting between Delcy Rodríguez and Spanish Minister José Luis Ábalos was described by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Joe Piechowski, on January 24, as "disappointing" and "discouraging." "The US has questions about this supposed meeting," he said. The deputy secretary of the State Department for Cuba and Venezuela, Carrie Filipetti, also described the meeting as "not very welcome." "It undermines the joint policy that the US and the EU have put in place on Venezuela," he added.
"Unlucky"
Abrams referred on February 6, in another briefing, to the fact that it was not Sanchez who received Guaido in Madrid. "We believe it is unfortunate that he did not agree to meet with him," said Trump's lieutenant for Venezuelan affairs. However, he said they have been in contact with the Government of Pedro Sánchez and have received "guarantees that Spain's commitment to the restoration of democracy in Venezuela remains firm."
The Guaidó team maintains the same caution. “What the Government of Spain has officially said, and the minister directly, is that they continue to recognize Juan Guaidó as interim president and as president of the Assembly,” says Vecchio. He adds: “We maintained contact with the Government of Sánchez, with the person he appointed, and reaffirm that for us Spain has to play a role within Europe. I hope, and I don't have to doubt, that Pedro Sánchez is on the side of defending human rights. I do not see President Sánchez or Spain standing on the side of the dictatorship. ”
“When Guaidó came to Madrid, we met with the minister and he ratified that the policy had not changed one iota,” confirms Antonio Ecarri, representative of Guaidó in Madrid. “When we showed some uncertainty by the Coalition Government, they told us that international policy was not within the agreement signed with Podemos and the other groups. We don't have any different official version. ”
A year after the United States became the first country to recognize the then leader of the National Assembly as interim president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro is still clinging to power. Now, clearing other international fronts, the feeling in the Guaidó team is that in the Trump Administration there is again, in Vecchio's words, “an urgency to stop this crisis”.